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Lets say that my definition of 'rudimentary programming' refers to the fundamental tools employed for a computer to perform a task.
Considering programming rudiments, the learning spectrum usually looks something like this:
Variables, data types and variable memory
Arrays/Lists and their manipulation
Looping and conditionals
Functions
Classes
Multi threading/processing
Streams (hard-disk and web)
My question is, have I missed any of the major rudiments? Is there a 'next' to the spectrum that still eludes me?
I think you missed the most important one: algorithms. Understanding the complexity, know the situation to use them, why use them and more important, how to implement them.
I'm pretty sure that you already know a lot about algorithms but if you think that your tool-knowledge (aka the programming languages) are good enough, you should start focus, more, on the algorithms.
A great book to start is: Introduction to Algorithms, from Thomas H. Cormen
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I can't say I'm weak in programming but I can't come up with the logic faster. I can analyse others code and get to know the logic. But I can't do it on my own. How can I improve my programming skills?
Quite a broad question but from my own, 30yr experience I can tell you there is no way around starting to
analyze existing code,
modify some things (play with it until it feels like it's your own code)
see what the changes do
develop your own ideas on how to do things faster/better/more beautiful
implement your ideas
see if it works
go on to more complex tasks
read books (very important, because many things can't just be discovered by trial'n'error)
be very passionate and determined about what you want to become reality
if you want to learn faster, then write more code
One very important item. You should have fun with what you do is always the best guarantee for success
If you fail at these items then I'm afraid you will never succeed with programming. But then maybe it's like any other field of knowledge.
I experience the same difficulties during my learning journey, too. When I complete challenge tasks I create more complex tasks for myself to see what I can do. It takes me to the next levels of solving problems.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
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I'm very impressed to how plagiarism checkers (such as Turnitin website ) works. But how do they do that ? In a very effective way, I'm new to this area thus is there any word matching algorithm or anything that is similar to that is used for detecting alike sentences?
Thank you very much.
I'm sure many real-world plagiarism detection systems use more sophisticated schemes, but the general class of problem of detecting how far apart two things are is called the edit distance. That link includes links to many common algorithms used for this purpose. The gist is effectively answering the question "How many edits must I perform to turn one input into the other?". The challenge for real-world systems is performing this across a large corpus in an efficient manner. A related problem is the longest common subsequence, which might also be useful for such schemes to identify passages that are copied verbatim.
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I'm good at algorithms but not as good as converting real-time problems and learning them throughly to make it as an algorithm. I would like to know if there is any book/paper that teaches or makes you demystify the situation and formulate it as an algorithm. (Its much like training your mental ability to break the situation and comeup with algorithm in a crisp.)
Showing some of the ways to approach these kinda problems. and any easy learning links/material would help me a lot.
Note: I know SO doesnt allow to ask for the opinion or something vague (I dont mind my Q being downgraded). But I am asking some concrete problem and hope can get some nice info from some of the great minds here.
The word that fits better as a direct answer is "experience". There exists no magical formula to convert a real time problem into some algorithms that solve it. As an analogy, there exist no predefined patterns on how to solve a mathematical problem. It is a mind's task to express the solution, based on some fundamental knowledge and on experience that is accumulated though constant learning.
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I came across the declaration in a software best practices guide that algorithm and code shouldn't get mixed up. I'm not sure what is meant by this? As far as I understand, code is the implementation of the algorithm, isn't is? So, what exactly is meant by this statement? and why it is considered as a good practice?
Thank You!
The context in which the author mentioned would be clearer if you had pasted the surrounding lines.
Though what it would mean to me is, an algorithm is just a clear step-by-step logic that you would use to implement. You would leave out the finer implementation details like selection of the right data structure and other implementation details while you write/design the algorithm.
A good explanation can be found here
An algorithm is a series of steps for solving a problem, completing a task or performing a calculation. Algorithms are usually executed by computer programs but the term can also apply to steps in domains such as mathematics for human problem solving.
Code is a series of steps that machines can execute. In many cases, code is composed in a high level language that is then automatically translated into instructions that machines understand.
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This may not be question of programming and people are open to close.
Does anyone has list of questions/problems to solve which helps to improve algorithms skills
may be for interview purpose.
A good option is Project Euler.
In its own description:
Project Euler is a series of challenging mathematical/computer programming problems that will require more than just mathematical insights to solve. Although mathematics will help you arrive at elegant and efficient methods, the use of a computer and programming skills will be required to solve most problems.
The motivation for starting Project Euler, and its continuation, is to provide a platform for the inquiring mind to delve into unfamiliar areas and learn new concepts in a fun and recreational context.
This seems like a perfect match...
Try TopCoder. They have held hundreds of algorithm competitions. Their archive contains thousands of problems for practice, including editorials describing the solutions. You can also view other people's submitted source code for the problems.
This will certainly sharpen your algorithm and problem solving skills, which should make you better prepared for algorithmic interview questions.
Fizz-Buzz?