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Ask HN: I feel like an 'expert beginner' and I don't know how to get better

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Re: Ask HN: I feel like an 'expert beginner' and I don't know how to get better

#51

Post by harry8 »

patio11 wrote: post #45

Do you want to be a programmer or a computer scientist? They're both options. One of them ships software for a living, the other ships journal articles. (This is a joke grounded more than a little bit in reality.) Your list of interests sounds like that of a computer scientist, but I'm allocating a little space to "Maybe your only exposure to computer programming so far has been undergrad CS and you're describing it…

"There is deep, mythical knowledge in programming, and it is acquired with sweat on your brow and a pickaxe in your hand chipping away at a coal face made out of Why Doesn't This Freaking Work." That is a beautiful sentence.

Re: Ask HN: I feel like an 'expert beginner' and I don't know how to get better

#52

Post by patio11 »

harry8 wrote: post #51
patio11 wrote: post #45

Do you want to be a programmer or a computer scientist? They're both options. One of them ships software for a living, the other ships journal articles. (This is a joke grounded more than a little bit in reality.) Your list of interests sounds like that of a computer scientist, but I'm allocating a little space to "Maybe your only exposure to computer programming so far has been undergrad CS and you're describing it…

"There is deep, mythical knowledge in programming, and it is acquired with sweat on your brow and a pickaxe in your hand chipping away at a coal face made out of Why Doesn't This Freaking Work." That is a beautiful sentence.

Thanks, I try.

Re: Ask HN: I feel like an 'expert beginner' and I don't know how to get better

#53

Post by eshvk »

On the Computer Science side of things. You are spreading yourself too thin if you say that you are interested in type theory, FP, Compilers, and so on. Each one of these fields is a discipline in itself. You could spend years and years acquiring the 'deep' knowledge of one of those itself. Don't set yourself up for impossible goals. Try to focus and selectively figure out what you want to do and how much "depth" you want to acquire.

> mythical stuff before it's too late.

Too late for what? What is the hurry?

Re: Ask HN: I feel like an 'expert beginner' and I don't know how to get better

#54

Post by tel »

aoeuaue wrote: post #11

PS: I guess what I'm looking for is a 'work-out' type procedure. Like practicing to run a marathon, you work out and run a lot (I assume). What should I do in order to 'work-out' my CS skills? Musicians practice, athletes work-out, what do computer scientists do in order to improve problem solving skills and knowledge? Unlike for athletes or musicians, practice in a knowledge field (like CS), seems a little ill defin…

Consume and create. Depending on your aims focus on consuming either papers/books or code and producing the same.

Re: Ask HN: I feel like an 'expert beginner' and I don't know how to get better

#55

Post by pbhjpbhj »

aoeuaue wrote: post #21
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any idea where that advice comes from, I've given similar advice in the realms of learning to throw pots (on the potters wheel); would be nice to ground that advice in a source as ancient wisdom if it is indeed that.

Off-topic but I tried ceramics and found it to be the hardest thing I ever had to learn. Ceramics seems to be unique in that your creations literally get destroyed right in front of you with no way to go back. (I'm told ceramics people dream of VCS' in their sleep :)

Version branching physical items would be great in many areas of life.

Re: Ask HN: I feel like an 'expert beginner' and I don't know how to get better

#56

Post by joeld42 »

Build something. Resist the urge to use all that theory to make it optimal. Just make it work. From what you've posted, I'd suggest inventing a "toy" language and writing a compiler or interpreter for it.

One of my favorite sayings goes: "What's the difference between theory and practice?" "In theory, there is no difference".

It sounds like you have the theory covered pretty well.

Re: Ask HN: I feel like an 'expert beginner' and I don't know how to get better

#57

Post by collyw »

electronvolt wrote: post #44
lettergram wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, awesome response.

I recently finished up my undergraduate education and realized there were certain large important parts of computer science I knew very little to nothing about (I stopped really taking CS classes to go take a lot of advanced math courses my last two years, which I'm not certain was the best decision, but it wasn't a bad one either), so I've been thinking a lot in the past few months about what my best options were fo…

>I recently finished up my undergraduate education and realized there were certain large important parts of computer science I knew very little to nothing about

Get used to it, the field is huge. You will only every have a surface level overview of "everything".

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