Learning programming one week at a time using Code Year

JDMurray

Is anyone using the Code Year Web site to learn programming? It looks like a great concept. You are sent a programming lesson every Monday and you have the week to work on it. You start with JavaScript, which is both easy and useful. And the site is free, but I'm sure there is an opportunity to buy something along the way.

Someone who has "Learn how to write software" as a New Year's resolution please give it a try for a few weeks and post back here.

RobertKaucher

I signed up. I need a JavaScript refresher! Thank you!

Everyone

If programming = True {
Do something else
}
EndIf

RomBUS

Hmm something I could use to add to my repertoire

I took one Java class in school...pretty much the end of learning that after I passed it

undomiel

It looks interesting enough, maybe I'll try to shoehorn it in. I've never taken my programming learning seriously enough which is why I never finish any of the programming projects I've started.

Zartanasaurus

Everyone wrote: »

If programming = True {
Do something else
}
EndIf

Shouldn't that be programming == true?

PsychoFin

Interesting, reminds me of the Khan Academy. I will definitely jump on this one, one lesson a week is my kind of pace

Cheers,
Fin

gcarroll357

Thanks. I figured I need to learn some programming to help me get more in IT...this should definitely help.

N2IT

JD

Thanks for posting!

phoeneous

Is it strictly javascript?

JDMurray

phoeneous wrote: »

Is it strictly javascript?

From what I've read, it's JavaScript to start. It might transition to Java, Perl, C++, or even Python. Practically every language has a free compiler/IDE now, so who knows.

Lizano

Signed up! Thanks for the post, great find!

Slowhand

I'll jump on this. I've been meaning to pick up some JavaScript, and I'd like to keep my coding brain cells active for a few more months while I'm focused on other things. These assignments seem lightweight enough that I won't have to strain too hard, but they look informative and fun, so it'll be a good thing.

ImTheKing

I'll bite. I've never been huge on programming (other than shell scripting), but it's worth a shot.

yuddhidhtir

Thanx!!always wanted to learn some basic programming,its pretty nice for beginners:D

coty24

Sick! Thanks JD

CodeBlox

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

Shouldn't that be programming == true?

If the language is C ( and I'm assuming it's not due to the if syntax ) then that is a valid assignment and will not throw an error. In some cases, the result is not whats desired and people make this mistake accidentally. Little tough to catch too sometimes.

Here is what I mean, you can make your assignment and test it all in one line:

if( ( programming = TRUE ) ){
    doSomethingElse();
}

That is equivalent to

if( TRUE ) {
    doSomethingElse();
}

JDMurray

CodeBlox wrote: »

if( ( programming = TRUE ) ){
    doSomethingElse();
}

That is equivalent to

if( TRUE ) {
    doSomethingElse();
}

And it will set the value of the variable programming to TRUE too.

And yes, that definitely is not C/C++/C#/Java syntax. The original code has both statement block braces and an EndIf?

RobertKaucher

Since it is pseudo-code, I suppose Everyone can make up his own pseudo-language.

veritas_libertas

I'll jump on board. I won't be able to get seriously involved, but I'll try to keep up enough to learn a thing or two.

Bl8ckr0uter

I'm game. I need to pick up some dev skills myself.


My question is if it will offer an introduction to CS stuff or just development.

JDMurray

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

My question is if it will offer an introduction to CS stuff or just development.

It looks like only hands-on programming. If you want true CS, have a look at the CS lectures at Academic Earth and MIT OpenCourseWare.

CodeBlox

JDMurray wrote: »

It looks like only hands-on programming. If you want true CS, have a look at the CS lectures at Academic Earth and MIT OpenCourseWare.

I'm a computer science major currently but woah, I didn't know such a thing as open courseware existed. Looks like all the lecture notes are readily available too. Very nice!

JDMurray

I might as well mention the Google Code Hosting project (formerly Google Code Search) for people looking for samples and examples of source code in quite a few different programming languages.

And have some early Friday Fun with Hello World examples in many different programming languages.

Bl8ckr0uter

How can you teach programming without teaching CS theory?

JDMurray

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

How can you teach programming without teaching CS theory?

The same way you can teach programming without also teaching Boolean algebra and predicate calculus. The concepts of data structures and program logic are so intuitive that even children learn to program without directly learning much about the basics of CS. God knows I was writing practical programs for years before I took a programming class or could make any use out of a CS theory book.

CodeBlox

I was going to say, I started programming before I took any CS courses. The CS courses of course supplemented what I was learning on my own.

RobertKaucher

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

How can you teach programming without teaching CS theory?

CodeBlox wrote: »

I was going to say, I started programming before I took any CS courses. The CS courses of course supplemented what I was learning on my own.

I think this goes to the heart of the terms "programmer" vs. "software engineer".

Learning enough about C or Assembly to be able to understand output from a debugger or a crash **** and write some relatively complex programs is very different from being a software engineer.

In today's world, holding two distinct domains of knowledge at an expert professional level is nearly impossible if you want to have a life out of work. The last man who knew everything died in 1829.

JDMurray

RobertKaucher wrote: »

I think this goes to the heart of the terms "programmer" vs. "software engineer".

Although professionally branded a "software engineer," I've really been more of a "programmer" most of my professional career. But I am certainly more of an (software) engineer than I am a (computer) scientist.

RobertKaucher wrote: »

The last man who knew everything died in 1829.

A time traveler, obviously.

hiddenknight821

I don't know how I can thank you, JDMurray. I really like this link, and I see this as a good programming refresher. I didn't have JavaScript experience before I signed up. I registered it earlier this week, but I told myself I would get to it and catch up with all exercises and projects but I was somewhat procrastinating. I have to say it wasn't easy to stay motivated and finish it, especially when you have no legitimate reason to learn it at this time. Some of the exercises were so redundant, that I got pretty tired and bored of typing the same codes. I tried not to **** by skipping or copy-and-paste. I hope to become a JavaScript expert in the next several weeks, and have that added to my resume. One thing I definitely learned from this is ternary condition. I didn't see this in other programming languages I learned. I'm now all caught up with the lessons. Anyone else still working on it or calling it quits already?

CodeBlox

This is for anyone who is familiar with C... Do you think doing something like this is using the language in a wrong way? I mean, there are no methods in native C code. What do you think about what I've written below. Namely, the last argument to printf.

#include <stdio.h>

typedef struct{
    int (* op)( int , int );
}operate;

int add( int a , int b) { return a + b; }

int main( int argc, char ** argv ){

    operate operating;

    operating.op = &add;

    if( argc == 3 )     
        printf( "\n%s + %s = %u\n",argv[1], argv[2], operating.op( atoi( argv[1] ) , atoi( argv[2] ) ) );
    else
        printf( "Invalid number of arguments \n" );


    return 0;
}

The way I define that function pointer as a member to the structure, it's as if its a method like in C++ or Java and you can call the function "add" by way of doing "operating.op( arg1 , arg2 )"