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A guide for people who want to self-study the basics of computer science

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Re: A guide for people who want to self-study the basics of computer science

#71

Post by hawk_ »

yt-sdb wrote: post #70
hawk_ wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been seeing more and more usage of 'ex post' and 'ex ante' lately. What do they convey that isn't conveyed by 'after' and 'before'?

"Before" and "after" are generic terms. A car might stop before the crosswalk (space). You might eat dinner after work (time). But "ex ante" and "ex post" specify a relationship to an (random) event or to specific information. For example, a data scientist might compute a quantity "ex ante". This means that the quantity was estimated using only forecast data. No historical data was used. It would not make sense, howe…

Got it. I will try to leverage the synergies between Latin and English ex post.

Re: A guide for people who want to self-study the basics of computer science

#72

Post by throwawaaarrgh »

totierne2 wrote: post #12

I am looking for a bottle of computer science motivation for my 16 year old. I do an hour a week coding with him. It is not enough, he does no coding in between times. There are other things he prioritises ahead of coding. (School, music, YouTube videos, and chess.)

Leave him alone? School, music, and chess are more than enough for him to invest himself in without you pushing your failed hopes and dreams on a little clone. YouTube videos are also fine, we all like entertainment.

Re: A guide for people who want to self-study the basics of computer science

#73

Post by dghughes »

hahhahanananana wrote: post #6

> High School Mathematics Whenever I try to catch up with maths (in Khan Academy and elsewhere), I always end up in an awkward state where I keep recursively researching less and less advanced subjects because of gaps of various sizes in my fundamental knowledge. It's incredibly demotivating.

That happens to me all the time the solution is I need a push or some deadline. For high school it was a strict (we thought) teacher who brought me from an average of 70% to 95%. For computer programming it was going back to school as an adult and timed in class tests. For music is was paying for lessons at a certain time.

If I don't get motivated from some external push I never get past a certain level. Every single thing I do in my life is like that even laundry. I must be chronic or maybe permanent procrastinator.

Re: A guide for people who want to self-study the basics of computer science

#74

Post by gigatexal »

hooverd wrote: post #55
gigatexal wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let him find his passion. Don’t force him into programming. There’s plenty in the tech space that needs doing. And there’s even more in life that he can do to earn a living that’s not tech related.

Imagine doing science, engineering, or mathematics. Might as well be getting an English degree.

Huh? How are those equivalent to getting and English degree?

Re: A guide for people who want to self-study the basics of computer science

#75

Post by austinwatkins »

yt-sdb wrote: post #22
hahhahanananana wrote: post #6

> High School Mathematics Whenever I try to catch up with maths (in Khan Academy and elsewhere), I always end up in an awkward state where I keep recursively researching less and less advanced subjects because of gaps of various sizes in my fundamental knowledge. It's incredibly demotivating.

Maybe 5 years ago, I was in a similar place. I had a particularly embarrassing moment at work when it clicked that I just... didn't know the basics. I was, to use an overused term, "mathematically immature". So I made a commitment: I decided I would work through Khan Academy math for 1-hour a day for 1 year. I started with pre-K [1] (specifically counting) and watched every video and did every single exercise in orde…

I loved reading your comment. Your story is very similar to my own! A little over 8 years ago, I also started at the beginning of Khan Academy. Due to reasons related to my childhood, I had essentially no education growing up. When I was in my early twenties, I had only an elementary education. The highest level of math I knew was basic fraction arithmetic. I had never written an essay and I did not have a scientific understanding.

Having no education, I only did menial work for money. Yet in my early twenties, I was contemplating my lack of scholarship and realized I wanted to fill the holes in my education. I went to Khan Academy and, as you did, started with pre-K and worked my way linearly through up to pre-college math. Thankfully, I was soon laid off from my job, which was an opportunity to start attending community college.

I then transferred to a state school and double majored in applied math and computer science. Now I’m doing theoretical research as a PhD student in computer science.

The 8-year path from pre-K math to graduate-level math classes and now being published has been a journey. And I’m deeply grateful for resources like Khan Academy.

Deciding to commit to a daily study of math transformed my life.

Re: A guide for people who want to self-study the basics of computer science

#77

Post by LocalH »

voz_ wrote: post #53
LocalH wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then stop focusing on trying to get him to code, and focus on his music, his chess, his YouTube videos ( especially if he has aspiration to be a content creator rather than a passive consumer), and his academics. Maybe related to one of those things, you could gently try to build a bridge between them and coding. However, don't force it . If you force it, you're essentially going to be raising someone who hates progr…

This is good advice if you live in a Hollywood movie fantasy, or are insanely rich. Otherwise this is bad advice. A parents job is to steer their kids not into superficial happiness found through whatever interested them at 16, but to actual long term happiness achieved through fulfillment, accomplishment, stability, and belonging. If I ignored CS pushed by my father to focus on whatever interested me at 16 (pot, gir…

I was treating the OP's list as a list of things their son was interested in doing or creating, not just idle timewasting. That's why I mentioned "especially if they have aspirations to be a content creator" in relation to YouTube.

There's a lot of difference between your scenario, and the scenario put forth by OP, in just tone of description alone. You seem to be assuming that I suggested that the OP not be encouraging their son to do anything, and that's not what I said. I said that if their son has no interest in coding except when the OP makes them do it, then maybe programming is not their interest, and if OP ends up causing resentment while still pushing them into that career, then they're potentially setting their son up for a miserable life, and possibly estrangement (depending on all the other parts of their childhood that we here are not privy to).

Re: A guide for people who want to self-study the basics of computer science

#78

Post by fit2rule »

totierne2 wrote: post #12

I am looking for a bottle of computer science motivation for my 16 year old. I do an hour a week coding with him. It is not enough, he does no coding in between times. There are other things he prioritises ahead of coding. (School, music, YouTube videos, and chess.)

[dead]

Re: A guide for people who want to self-study the basics of computer science

#79

Post by hooverd »

gigatexal wrote: post #74
hooverd wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine doing science, engineering, or mathematics. Might as well be getting an English degree.

Huh? How are those equivalent to getting and English degree?

The pay isn't as much compared to a hyperfocused CS to FAANG/startup track. It's not bad though.

Re: A guide for people who want to self-study the basics of computer science

#80

Post by gigatexal »

hooverd wrote: post #79
gigatexal wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? How are those equivalent to getting and English degree?

The pay isn't as much compared to a hyperfocused CS to FAANG/startup track. It's not bad though.

But if the child isn’t passionate about comp sci/programming/etc their life is gonna be hell. Better to let them be happy than be miserable.
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