Send him the turtle game to play
Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?
111–120 of 194 posts
Re: Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't get why people continue to recommend TI-83s. I showed up to Algebra II with an 85, but 83s were weirdly prevalent until calculus "strongly recommended" TI-89s. In this context, the 83 is an awful, awful choice, because TI-83 programs only allow for variable names to be one character long. I was lucky, when someone asked me to copy my TI-85 blackjack program into their TI-83, that I had used less than 28 varia…
I've never used a TI-85 or 86. From what I remember, we were told that an 83 or 89 had some particular feature that the 86 lacked (apparently some statistics functions, or something?) People are more likely to recommend based on what they know, and with school recommendations being what they've been, more people know the 83/84. I was envious of my friend's 89, but my parents wouldn't pay the higher cost.
> People are more likely to recommend based on what they know
True, but very sad. I am given to understand, from an HN thread months ago, that the state of the art in school graphing calculators now is the HP Prime. But that never even gets mentioned in recommendations, because no one's ever heard of it. (And there's very little incentive to learn what to recommend, because the only value of a graphing calculator is that it's permitted on standardized tests -- the HP Prime is $165; the HP Prime software for your Android phone is $10.)
> I was envious of my friend's 89, but my parents wouldn't pay the higher cost.
Also sad. I read the manual for my TI-85 cover to cover; it taught me about polar coordinates and euclidean vectors before my school covered them. For a child interested in math, these calculators can be wonderful.
Re: Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?
#113Maybe the best use of his time would be to develop math skills. Probability, Statistics, Calculus, Logic, perhaps a focus on algorithms (as you suggest) will give a leg up in important areas of computer science and make it much easier to jump in and do meaningful work when your friend gets out. Also all those skills do not require a computer to develop - although they are challenging. I hope there is some sort of support available in his current institution.
Re: Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?
#114Learning to code without a computer is what we all did, 40 years ago! He may write programs on paper, and send them to you to type them in, compile them, and print out a listing with the errors. You then send back the listing, and he will correct his program and repeat. He'll become a great programmer, since he will have to be extra careful to avoid losing one week on some typo. Now, it's been a few years since gcc h…
> Another idea: some progress has been made on optical character recognition, so if he can write well enough, it may be possible that you may be able to scan his written programs, and convert them to source file easily, without having to transcribe them. So the process could be smooth enough.
I was going to ask if he has access to a smartphone to take and send photos of paper?
Set up a server for it. Hell turn it into a business.
Re: Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?
#115In addition to the CS books already recommended by others, do not underestimate the value of flowcharts. You can draw a program on paper and follow it with a finger to "run" it. With a bit of practise, it'll be possible to run such mental models without even writing them down. At that point you're thinking like a programmer. This skill is transferrable to any programming language.
yes. Good idea. Try to do them using structured programming. whiles, fors, and subrutines
Re: Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?
#116The Schemer's Guide was designed for paper and pen
https://www.amazon.com/Schemers-Guide-Iain-Ferguson/dp/09628...
D is for Digital is a good survey and has some Javascript programming info, Amazon has the second version draft already http://kernighan.com/
Re: Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?
#117Whenever I approach a new language, I read a book on it and go through the code in my head. I am a very visual person, so I practice visualizing what is happening as I read it. Once I have a proper mental model, I find I have a much easier time writing it on a computer. Perhaps one gets faster at visualizing code, but I've always found that I tend to be slower to learn new languages, but have a solid grasp once a good mental model is made.
I'll definitely take a look at some of the languages mentioned in this thread that are made to be done on paper. Sounds like a great exercise.
Re: Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?
#118I had to learn to program with pencil and paper, but I had occasional access to a computer, so I have to ask for more info. How long until your friend gets out? Will he have zero access to a computer while inside? Will he have someone on the outside who can take handwritten code, enter it, run it, and send back the results? If so, what will the turnaround time be? What does he want to do when he gets out? -- If he'll…
> -- If he'll be in for ten or more years, he should learn something else. His learning will be so slow and the field changes so quickly that he might learn a few timeless fundamentals, but that's all. He could accomplish much more in some other challenging field that didn't require tools he wouldn't have (ex: math, physics, accounting, ...)
The field changes quickly but the fundamentals (data structures, design patterns, data structures) not as much.
Re: Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?
#119He could build a mechanical computer :) you can build adders out of marble tracks, use hydrolics or legos, etc.
Re: Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?
#120I would recommend to start with the basics: logic, assembly, algorithms and data structures.