erraticwisdom.com— A collection of tips for the beginning programmer regardless of the language. Learn how to build a strong foundation that will make learning languages in the future easier.
Jul 5, 2006View in Crawl 4
I'll add a tip:Please, for the love of all that is sacred...do not even think about writing a single line of production code until you have read "Code Complete".
Here are tips I would give to aspiring programmers.1.) Don't choose a "really easy" langauge to start off with. In the long run it will be counter-intuitive, and will probably confuse you at times.2.) Go slow. But I don't mean only working 5 minutes a week, but instead learn the same thing from 3 or 4 different books. It will help really cement the knowledge into your head. 3.) Buy a "for dummies book" and also buy a 1337 total-everything you need to know about the particular langague you are learning ever guide. You know the sort. ;) 4.) Start reading about your OS and hardware and how everything works at some point. Learn Assembly maybe?5.) www.gotapi.com is your friend.6.) Comment, and use the correct ammount of whitespace...7.) Patience and practice.8.) Surround yourself with people who are trying to learn as well.
Describe in detail. Be brief and concise.A punchline of an old joke, sure, but very true about programming. Know how to do what you are trying to program, learn how to observe your own processes (what you are doing). Learn how to describe what you are doing in sufficient detail, but not with such detail that you obfuscate your description. Introspection and self-observation.This works equally well in all paradigms ("I go through the boxes, looking in each box and adding the number of marbles to the total", "I split the pile into two piles: 'big ones' and 'small ones' and then sort each pile", "It is the biggest integer that, when squared, is still less than 85"). And, if you can't do this, your programs won't work regardless of the language/system you choose.
what kind of bulls**t is this? and it's been dugg over 1k times, some of digg users are really dumb i guess, these kind of tips are pretty much nobrainer tips like: drive safe, when you're in school pay attention...wtf...
I would add:write unit tests. Do not care if they are true unit tests, just have something you can run all the time.limit your functions(methods) to about a page lengthlimit your argument lists to about four argument per methoddo not comment the obvious things. Think of commenting as conversing with the programmers who will come later on
grimdotdotdotJul 5, 2006
Save a few shots for me.What a waste of time.
Closed AccountJul 5, 2006
I can't beleive i wasted 30 seconds of my life on this article... mabye they should have added a 6th tip... 6.) Buy a computer, turn it on.
brsquirrlJul 5, 2006
I'll add a tip:Please, for the love of all that is sacred...do not even think about writing a single line of production code until you have read "Code Complete".
lhnzJul 5, 2006
Here are tips I would give to aspiring programmers.1.) Don't choose a "really easy" langauge to start off with. In the long run it will be counter-intuitive, and will probably confuse you at times.2.) Go slow. But I don't mean only working 5 minutes a week, but instead learn the same thing from 3 or 4 different books. It will help really cement the knowledge into your head. 3.) Buy a "for dummies book" and also buy a 1337 total-everything you need to know about the particular langague you are learning ever guide. You know the sort. ;) 4.) Start reading about your OS and hardware and how everything works at some point. Learn Assembly maybe?5.) www.gotapi.com is your friend.6.) Comment, and use the correct ammount of whitespace...7.) Patience and practice.8.) Surround yourself with people who are trying to learn as well.
dr_steveJul 5, 2006
Describe in detail. Be brief and concise.A punchline of an old joke, sure, but very true about programming. Know how to do what you are trying to program, learn how to observe your own processes (what you are doing). Learn how to describe what you are doing in sufficient detail, but not with such detail that you obfuscate your description. Introspection and self-observation.This works equally well in all paradigms ("I go through the boxes, looking in each box and adding the number of marbles to the total", "I split the pile into two piles: 'big ones' and 'small ones' and then sort each pile", "It is the biggest integer that, when squared, is still less than 85"). And, if you can't do this, your programs won't work regardless of the language/system you choose.
toyaJul 6, 2006
what kind of bulls**t is this? and it's been dugg over 1k times, some of digg users are really dumb i guess, these kind of tips are pretty much nobrainer tips like: drive safe, when you're in school pay attention...wtf...
rajatworkJul 6, 2006
I would add:write unit tests. Do not care if they are true unit tests, just have something you can run all the time.limit your functions(methods) to about a page lengthlimit your argument lists to about four argument per methoddo not comment the obvious things. Think of commenting as conversing with the programmers who will come later on
icarusAug 12, 2006
Get the basics down first. This is what most of the newbies lack of.