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MIT female learning to code

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Re: MIT female learning to code

#11

Post by Female-hacker »

ndl wrote: post #7

Definitely give C and Scheme a try. Both are simple, compact languages with strong philosophy and history. I think that most of the languages we have today compromise between C style and Lisp style. One of my favourite books is called, "Write Great Code: Volume 1: Understanding the Machine". This book gave me a real intuition for why the computer behaves the way it does given a piece of code. If like that kind of stu…

Is there a benefit to learning multiple languages? Or would you recommend trying to truly "master" one of the starting (Java or Python) and then branching out after completely comfortable in one? Should I learn them in a specific order?

I just picked up Code Complete at the lib today but will start with "Write Great Code" as you suggested. Thanks!

Re: MIT female learning to code

#12

Post by dbingham »

ndl wrote: post #7

Definitely give C and Scheme a try. Both are simple, compact languages with strong philosophy and history. I think that most of the languages we have today compromise between C style and Lisp style. One of my favourite books is called, "Write Great Code: Volume 1: Understanding the Machine". This book gave me a real intuition for why the computer behaves the way it does given a piece of code. If like that kind of stu…

I think doing odd things that push the boundaries of a language is a great way to become a great programmer, but isn't something to try when you are just learning your first language. That's someone you do once you understand where those boundaries are.

Re: MIT female learning to code

#13

Post by [deleted] »

mfukar wrote: post #9

What makes you think your ( wow ) programmers are slow? Are they inexperienced, like yourself? They may be poorly guided or have no clear definition of goals. Or a lot of other things. But by all means, get a hold of a compiler and a text editor. You don't need no literature. Yet.

[deleted]

Re: MIT female learning to code

#14

Post by iworkforthem »

Not sure what is the nature of your startup. But if you are building;

1. Web-based App Decide on the programming language, the more popular languages are Java, PHP, Python, Rails, etc. Start by going through their Getting Started guide and make the 'Hello World' app. Once you are familiar with the programming language, seek out the related framework. Most of these web-based application already have a few established framework to help you speed up the development work.

2. iPhone App/Android App Start going through the iOS SDK 4 docs or start by going through the Android SDK Dev Guide. I am still going through these myself. Can't provide more details here. Maybe the more experienced folks can chip in a bit.

These will get you started on the programming part. But working in a startup, you probably need to work as a team. So you will need to know a bit of the tools used in a team environment; version control tools like SVN or CVS, testing tools like junit, grinder, hudson, etc. The number of tools really depends on how your startup operate. The real way to get an idea what you will need is to Contribute To An Open Source Project; help to code, test, etc. Nothing beat experience gain from there.. Wish someone told me that when I was started out, then I won't have unlearn all my mistakes.

Re: MIT female learning to code

#15

Post by jolie »

Female-hacker wrote: post #8
jcroberts wrote: post #5

Seems like you were starved for attention and couldn't answer your own questions, so you decided to waive your female bait, twice, to see if you can sucker any of the dorks into helping you with your homework. Congrats on nailing two suckers so far!!!111oneoneone~~ A (supposedly) smart (MIT) girl like you should already know all the programming (manipulation) instruction you need can be found in the pages of Cosmo. Y…

Well aren't you lovely. A starved for attention (supposedly) smart (MIT) girl? Overweight pathetic "Cosmo" reading male? Please make up your mind. Or..I'm an Econ major taking my FIRST course in computer science with ZERO background experience in this space at all. I'm looking for advice and guidance as a humble beginner. If you were looking for literature and daily publications on Austrian Economics or other heterod…

Sheesh, there's one in every thread...

Thanks for starting this topic, ladydude. I've been looking for the same sort of advice/extracurricular materials, myself.

This one's on my wishlist. As in, I wish I had the time/cognitive tenacity to read it: http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Programming-Volumes-1-4A-Boxe...

Re: MIT female learning to code

#16

Post by mfukar »

[deleted] wrote: post #13
mfukar wrote: post #9

What makes you think your ( wow ) programmers are slow? Are they inexperienced, like yourself? They may be poorly guided or have no clear definition of goals. Or a lot of other things. But by all means, get a hold of a compiler and a text editor. You don't need no literature. Yet.

[deleted]

Not necessarily. What worked for me will probably (definitely) not work for you. Especially since you don't mention:

a) any short- or long-term goals of yours b) any preference on language, or what language(s) your project is using c) any preference on teaching style, or even habits

If you did, I might be able to relate, or even suggest something. But any advice basically boils down to getting a basic development environment going, and learn by trial and error.

Re: MIT female learning to code

#17

Post by laurasbadideas »

Save the websites for after you graduate -- right now, take advantage of the resources available to you as an MIT student. See if you can get some real-life experience with a UROP. Ask your CS professors (or even TAs) questions during their office hours. Go to some SIPB events.

Re: MIT female learning to code

#18

Post by malandrew »

What do you mean by "how slow my programmers were?"

Three possibilities:

-- Possibly good or bad programmers, but slow as you imply

-- Good programmers, taking their time to build the system properly by writing unit tests and functional tests

-- Possibly good or bad programmers, but hindered by legacy code and/or a lack of tests for previous code

Re: MIT female learning to code

#19

Post by Female-hacker »

malandrew wrote: post #18

What do you mean by "how slow my programmers were?" Three possibilities: -- Possibly good or bad programmers, but slow as you imply -- Good programmers, taking their time to build the system properly by writing unit tests and functional tests -- Possibly good or bad programmers, but hindered by legacy code and/or a lack of tests for previous code

Communication was poor and they (two grad students) could only commit a few hours per week...more than anything it ignited an interest to learn that of which I knew nothing about.

Re: MIT female learning to code

#20

Post by barrydahlberg »

Do something you enjoy. Personally I learnt to program because I wanted to know how computer graphics worked, that led to games and eventually a career. Some things I think are fun to play with:

* Logo / turtle graphics (Python has this built in IIRC)

* Fractals, random generation (Mandelbrot blows my mind)

* Learning how games were made (E.g. http://www.bluesnews.com/abrash/)

* Old style graphics engines (SDL, Allegro etc)

* JavaScript / HTML (E.g. a recent experiment: http://www.dpod.com/Canvas/02/)

* Exploring new languages (Scheme, Python, Assembly... recently Clojure)

As you can see some of this is new, some old, some useful, some just interesting. Explore, enjoy, learn programming as a side effect!

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