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Starting an Education in IT?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the where-is-the-best-place-to-begin dept.

AriaStar asks: "It's overwhelming to start trying to learn all the different technologies needed to go into programming. It seems that every type of technology assumes knowledge of a different one, which in turn requires knowledge of another, until it's gone full circle. I am interested in everything from Unix to AJAX to Perl. Things like HTML, Javascript, and SQL are like English, but then again, they're basic. Where is the best place to start? What is a good path for someone who learns quickly and easily, but who is simply too overwhelmed, to take?"

5 of 425 comments (clear)

  1. learn by solving *your* problems by Speare · · Score: 5, Informative
    Sure, there are seriously important things to learn in data structures, algorithms, and methodologies, but the fastest way to learn programming (the fastest way to learn ANYTHING) is to try to solve your own problems, not the stock rote example problems you'll find in books.

    If you want to learn how to skate, take a tennis ball and chase it around a parking lot while having skates strapped to your feet. Don't spend more than a few minutes trying to consciously learn how to stand, roll forward, brake, or fall. Chase the ball. Do something OTHER than learn how to skate, but do something that requires skating. Your medulla oblongata will do the job far faster if it's allowed to do it without micromanagement from your conscious mind.

    Same goes for programming. You won't learn how recursion works by typing in a fibonacci example. You'll learn how recursion works when you want to make a gallery thingy and find yourself needing to catalogue all *.jpg files below a certain directory. You won't learn how object oriented programming works by re-reading the wikipedia article on polymorphism, you'll learn more valuable lessons when you decide it's insane to be writing almost identical code in so many places and realize that's what a parent class is for.

    Solve YOUR problems, not the book's, and you will develop a passion for problem solving. Almost all of the "programmers" out there who succeed have one thing in common: they wanted something implemented so they got it working on their own.

    --
    [ .sig file not found ]
  2. A Good Foundation... by Kr3m3Puff · · Score: 4, Informative
    I would say you are right to assume that things are changing too much and too fast to pick out a plan that includes the latest stuff.

    My suggestion is that (and in this order):
    1. Learn a good procedural programming language (e.g. C or Pascal)
    2. Learn a good Object Oriented Language (e.g. C++, C# or Java)
    3. Learn a good Scripting Language (e.g. Perl, PHP, etc)
    4. Learn Regular Expressions
    5. Learn some variety of XML to get the fundementals down
    6. Learn XHTML


    Now you should have a solid good base to learn just about anything. I would stay away from IDE's as much as possible and try to learn by hand, it is sort of doing division long hand before using the calculator.

    Be aware that most technolgies like LAMP, AJAX, DHTML, etc are just applications and combinations of technologies that will be super easy to undertsand if you have a good grounding in the basics.
    --
    D.O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V.M.
  3. Re:Where to start by Nicolay77 · · Score: 4, Informative

    And also get a good book about LISP and learn it. Almost every language out there is placed somewhere between C and LISP.

    You can draw a line like C____C++_Java____Python___Ruby_Lisp

    I suggest Common Lisp an Interactive Approach.

    --
    We are Turing O-Machines. The Oracle is out there.
  4. Mathematical Association of America by reporter · · Score: 4, Informative
    Among textbooks teaching general (i.e., not highly specialized) discrete mathematics, the Mathematical Association of America assigns a two-star (**) recommendation to Discrete Mathematics by Kenneth A. Ross and Charles R. B. Wright. Two stars means "highly recommended". Only one other textbook on general discrete mathematics received two stars. No textbook on general discrete mathematics received the highest rating: 3 stars.

    The book by Ross and Wright is quite good.

    The mediocre reviews at Amazon are likely at anomaly.

  5. More suggestions by ninejaguar · · Score: 4, Informative

    Good suggestion! I would supplement it with the following as well:
    1. Episodic Learner Model/An online Lisp tutorial
    2. Common Lisp: A Gentle Introduction to Symbolic Computation
    3. How to Design Programs
    4. Practical Common Lisp
    5a. The book - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
    5b. The movies - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
    6. Loving Lisp - the Savvy Programmer's Secret Weapon
    7. Common Lisp the Language, 2nd Edition
    8. On Lisp
    9. common lisp: a web application tutorial for beginners
    10. JavaScript: The World's Most Misunderstood Programming Language
    11. Free JavaScript Learning Center
    12. JavaScript for Scared People
    13. JavaScript Closures
    14. Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby

    = 9J =