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Ask Slashdot: Programming Education Resources For a Year Offline?

Posted by timothy on from the maybe-a-local-phrasebook dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I will be traveling to a remote Himalayan village for year and won't have access to the internet. What offline resources would you all recommend to help me continue to develop my coding skills? I think this would be a good time to get better at fundamentals, since I won't be able to learn any new frameworks or APIs. What about other, non-programming skills to practice and learn? Any ideas?" What would you bring?

6 of 223 comments (clear)

  1. Obvious guy says by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Do you necessarily have to work on your coding skills? What about enjoying the ride and soaking up the scene?

    1. Re:Obvious guy says by plover · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Came here to say exactly this. Focus on your adventure. Coding will be here when you get back.

      --
      John
    2. Re:Obvious guy says by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Do you necessarily have to work on your coding skills? What about enjoying the ride and soaking up the scene?

      I was going to say the same thing. Concentrate on being a better person, rather than a better programmer. Travel broadens the mind. Let it do so.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    3. Re:Obvious guy says by Guru80 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I get the whole "soak up the scene" stuff but it's a whole year. He will have downtime due to weather/mood/circumstances many times during that period. Just because I might head on a culturally broadening journey for a year doesn't mean I want to completely stop my education during that time particularly if I was really interested in a certain subject. If it were I it would be math, fundamentals and theory. It wouldn't be a rigorous education schedule but it is good to have it there when you want it.

    4. Re:Obvious guy says by umdesch4 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I came here to say this. People commenting here don't seem to have the experience to back it up. I spent a year in a beautiful place where the climate and culture were a 180 from where I'd spent most of the rest of my life up to that point, and hardly anybody spoke a word of English. It was an awesome adventure, but I still had a whole heap of Cisco training materials on a laptop, and managed to write my CCNA exam when I came back. I had enough downtime over the course of the year, and sometimes I just wanted use the time to learn something radically different from my current surroundings, and more related to my former life. It helped me stay sane when I started to feel like a stranger in a strange land, and it made me remember that I'm not an idiot. When you spend a year trying to function in a place where you don't speak the language too well (especially at first), you can start to feel like you've lost too many brain cells. As for what to bring, that's hard to say, but I'd recommend something that's formatted as a course with study guides and practice tests, just because then you can gauge how well you're absorbing the material without needing to be online to confirm it.

  2. Do math instead by bangular · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Do math instead. Abstract algebra, Discrete math, many other topics in that vein. You'll come out a better programmer.