[sf-lug] Tutor me in Programming?

[jim]

(brazenly: ) back away and ask 
* what kind of data is your program handling, 
is it uniform (a bunch of numbers or a bunch 
of names), does it have a beginning and an 
end (user input from a keyboard has a beginning 
but no predictable end), are there relations 
between data elements (a name and a phone 
number, a number and its square). 
* what result is wanted? sort the data, 
compress it, eliminate as much as possible, 
record (log) it in a certain fashion.... 
* what tools are available to you to use? 
various programming languages, various 
libraries or modules? 

how to think like a programmer: 
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/programming-and-development/?p=43 

how to think like a computer scientist: 
http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/

(those who know me, forgive me: ) consider 
learning python 
* it's human readable to the max 
* colleges are switching to python from C as 
their intro to programming language 
* one of the backbone principles is not to 
be "clever" 
* python literature and modules are well-
documented and with respect to expressing an 
elegant problem solution 
* python programmers, i.e. the people to whom 
you'd be turning to help, have a reputation, 
as a group, to be better than average 
programmers in the very sense you mean. 




On Sun, 2008-09-07 at 00:39 +0000, Blake Haggerty wrote:
> I too have problems thinking in that mindset... If u find a solution please let  me know. I understand admin and simple syntac scripts but the algorithm part of programing dows not work with my brain....
> 
> Sent with Wireless Sync from Verizon Wireless
> 
> ---- Original Message ----
> From: "vincent polite" <vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com>
> Date: 9/6/08 4:21 pm
> To: "sf-lug at linuxmafia.com" <sf-lug at linuxmafia.com>
> Subj: [sf-lug] Tutor me in Programming?
> Hi Jim,
> 
> I need help learning programming. I'm taking Javascript at City College. I'm not having trouble with the syntax. I'm having trouble thinking like a programmer. I guess I'm having trouble writing algorithms. Does that make sense? I'll see you tomorrow at Javacat and we can discuss it.
> 
> Vince
> 
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