EPTSo, this is my first actual blog entry. Recently I've been spending more time in the blog section instead of the Simple Questions/Simple Answers strat thread where I made the relative bulk of my posts before (when I played more). I don't have a clear plan for this blog of mine right now, but somewhere in the back of my mind I know I want to use it as a way to share my thoughts and just have some sort of audience to vent to. The TL community is a pretty great community, and most of the blogs get at a good number of views and meaningful replies, so this will be a good place for what I want to do.
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Recently I've moved back home, and I haven't kept up with many people from around here, and I mainly keep in contact with my other friends online, and then not very often or in any great depth. And there are times when I just need to get things off my chest, and this blog will probably be that repository.
So, on to the point of this first blog:
I want advice on how to start programming. I will have a bit of time at school to indulge some things I've always wanted to do, and one of those things was to learn how to code. I tried in highschool and it was a pretty terrible experience. I felt clueless half the time, and utterly confused the other half. However, that was highschool, and by now I've developed more as a person, so I want to give this whole programming thing a shot and see if I at least have the capacity to learn something I've always considered just outside my ability.
I browsed the big programming thread on the general forum, but I honestly got more lost than helped because a) I don't have any real programming experience and b) I feel like none of it really helps my situation as a pre-beginner.
At my school, there are several CS courses being offered over summer, when I won't really have any other classes to take or anything else to do. Classes they're currently offering that seem like they'll be better for me to start with are:
-Introduction to Computer Science
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1. Description -
Provides a broad overview of the field of computer science and an introduction to software engineering. Introduces hardware, software, information systems, software development and networking. Uses a subset of a programming language to study programming and problem solving.
2. Course Objectives -
The student will be able to:
describe the basic makeup and functions of a computer system
define common information system terminology
design a properly constructed process to perform a computer task
understand the software development process.
Provides a broad overview of the field of computer science and an introduction to software engineering. Introduces hardware, software, information systems, software development and networking. Uses a subset of a programming language to study programming and problem solving.
2. Course Objectives -
The student will be able to:
describe the basic makeup and functions of a computer system
define common information system terminology
design a properly constructed process to perform a computer task
understand the software development process.
-Fundamentals of Visual Basic.Net programming
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1. Description -
Introduction to computer programming using the Visual Basic.NET Language; provides an overview of computer organization and an introduction to software engineering. Topics include methodologies for program design, development, style, testing and documentation; algorithms, control structures, objects, classes, file I/O, and elementary data structures.
2. Course Objectives -
The student will be able to:
describe the basic makeup and functions of a computer system.
design a properly constructed process to perform a computer task
code the process in the Visual Basic.NET language.
test and document the resultant program.
Introduction to computer programming using the Visual Basic.NET Language; provides an overview of computer organization and an introduction to software engineering. Topics include methodologies for program design, development, style, testing and documentation; algorithms, control structures, objects, classes, file I/O, and elementary data structures.
2. Course Objectives -
The student will be able to:
describe the basic makeup and functions of a computer system.
design a properly constructed process to perform a computer task
code the process in the Visual Basic.NET language.
test and document the resultant program.
-Introduction to Programming with C++/C#/Java
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These are 3 separate courses that all seem to have a similar description to the below:
1. Description -
Introduces the discipline of computer science using the Java language; provides an overview of computer organization and an introduction to software engineering. Topics include methodologies for program design, development, style, testing and documentation; algorithms, control structures, sub-programs, objects, and elementary data structures.
Advisories: MATH 220.
2. Course Objectives -
The student will be able to:
describe the basic makeup and functions of a computer system.
design a properly constructed process to perform a computer task.
code the process in the Java language.
test and document the resultant program
My friends have recommended I start with Java after I described all the options to them, but I'd like to know what programmers on TL would recommend (anywhere from avid programmers to people who are also just starting). All the classes except the C++ one are online, and since they're all listed as introductory, I'm pretty confident I can take 2 classes at once if I dedicate my time to it.
Thanks if you took the time to read this, what do you recommend?
