Welcome Guest
Log In | Register )
You last visited September 6, 2008, 3:02 am

Where did you learn coding?

Last post 5 days ago by LckyLary. 37 replies.

Page 1 of 4 ForwardGo to Page
Print E-mail Link

What is the biggest source of what you know now?

Self-study, books, internet [ 40 ]  [72.73%]
Classes in High-school, College [ 10 ]  [18.18%]
Learned at Work, on the Job [ 1 ]  [1.82%]
Other [ 4 ]  [7.27%]
Total Valid Votes [ 55 ]  
Discarded Votes [ 4 ]  

Guests cannot vote  ( Log In | Register )

Standard Member
Advanced

United States
Member #13375
March 30, 2005
1029 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 7, 2007, 4:31 pm - IP Logged Bottom

I'm wondering how people got to their current level of programming skill. I learned far, far more from the books I got online and studying on my own, than from the campus bookstore and the college profs.

Prince of Insufficient Light ~ Ruler of Heck
JADELottery's avatar - BlueFireWall
Platinum Member
The Mathematical Alpha Geek
Veteran
Waukesha, WI
United States
Member #21
December 7, 2001
1630 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 7, 2007, 4:42 pm - IP Logged Bottom Top

I'm wondering how people got to their current level of programming skill. I learned far, far more from the books I got online and studying on my own, than from the campus bookstore and the college profs.

Part School and part Self learned. The time I was in High School I learned some, then when I was in 2 year Technical College I learned some. However, most of the stuff I know is Self instruction; sources from books, software, internet and other people.

My Self Picks are optimized to produce
the most number of wins with
the least amount of effort.

Order is a subset of Chaos.

Thank You,
Doug

RJOh's avatar - chipmunk
Standard Member
Top 25 Poster
Elite
mid-Ohio
United States
Member #9
March 24, 2001
8976 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 7, 2007, 5:18 pm - IP Logged Bottom Top

I'm totally self taught.  I started out with a TI-99 and move to a Commode64.  Both used their version of Basic so later when I bought a Tandy1000(an IBM compatible), I only had to learn to the extra features in Tandy Basic which was similar to GWBasic which I started using after up from the 8088 Tandy 1000. 

I'm still using GWBasic, but I did invest in Visual Basic a few years back but never took the time to learn it, besides I would have to rewrite all my programs.  I downloaded a trial copy of Liberty Basic a month back and used the tutorial that came with it to check it out and was impressed enough to consider buying a copy of it since it's written for Windows.   Then again I may just save $50 and dig out my copy of Visual Basic and start learning it instead.

What happens most is most likely to happen again

LottoMining's avatar - basket
Standard Member
Rookie
California
United States
Member #49303
January 11, 2007
16 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 7, 2007, 5:39 pm - IP Logged Bottom Top

I'm mostly self taught, though learning on the job over the last 10 or so years comes in second.  I'm still "climbing the mountain" of learning new technology/techniques and have the energy to continue with it.  Books, online content and magazines have been the most helpful since things change frequently, once you're out of school the content gets dated rather quickly.  My next door neighbor was a Computer Science major from the US Naval Academy and since she didn't use it for 5 to 7 years her education became rather obsolete, what can be remembered that is.   

It greatly helps to have an interesting data-set to code against.

Standard Member
Rookie

United Kingdom
Member #31679
January 27, 2006
25 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 10, 2007, 1:47 pm - IP Logged Bottom Top

I started with Basic on a Vic20. Then moved to an Amiga and learned Assembly language. Bought a PC and learned about visual basic. Then moved onto C++ and Java while doing a Computer Science degree. Learned a lot about data structures and algorithms which speeds up programs a lot.

Standard Member
New Member
New Member
Manila
Philippines
Member #57428
December 10, 2007
10 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 11, 2007, 2:12 am - IP Logged Bottom Top

right now, im quite a newbie ni coding. but i trying to study through online tutorials, books, etc. :)

Standard Member
Advanced

United States
Member #13375
March 30, 2005
1029 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 11, 2007, 5:03 am - IP Logged Bottom Top

I am surprised (and amused) that so many people learned by self-study.

I had a VIC-20, too. Big Grin Massive 3583 bytes of free memory.

Prince of Insufficient Light ~ Ruler of Heck
Standard Member
Rookie

United Kingdom
Member #31679
January 27, 2006
25 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 11, 2007, 7:55 am - IP Logged Bottom Top

I am surprised (and amused) that so many people learned by self-study.

I had a VIC-20, too. Big Grin Massive 3583 bytes of free memory.

Ah but it's not the size that matters but what you do with it. Big Smile

 Remember the huge 16k ram paks that you slotted into the back of the machine. And the games use to be on rom cartridges. Remember when you could program your own games and sell them?

justxploring's avatar - villiarna
Standard Member
Top 50 Poster
Veteran
Sunny SW Florida
United States
Member #25708
November 5, 2005
4068 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 13, 2007, 3:27 pm - IP Logged Bottom Top

I took some computer courses years after I finished college.  I took evening courses after work at local colleges. (late 70s, early-mid 80s) I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now.

What? 

I completed BASIC, COBOL, and dropped out of Fortran before I had a nervous breakdown.

It's been almost 30 years, but when I start to see a lot of zeros and ones, I hide in the closet. The rest is a total blank to me now. When I hear "algorithmic language" I think of our former Vice President talking about global warming.

I guess I'll stick to surfing the net and playing pinball.  Smiley 

Standard Member
Advanced

United States
Member #13375
March 30, 2005
1029 Posts
Offline
Posted: December 13, 2007, 3:47 pm - IP Logged Bottom Top

I started this thread because I was wading through a pile of ... excusesUnhappy, on another topic, and I needed to get some neutral data on this particular point. Big Grin

I was also testing a theory Skeptical regarding non-coders who have trouble finding someone to convert their ideas into a program. It seems some have trouble converting their ideas into coherence, too. Crazy

Prince of Insufficient Light ~ Ruler of Heck
 
Page 1 of 4 ForwardGo to Page
Top