i'm newbie in programming and i as a marketing executive so i dont know anything about programming but i very excited to learn programming so now i learn independently.My friend said to me,better for beginner learn C++ first then go to ASP clssic then ASP.NET+PHP+CI..now i in ASP stage.
Question 1 : it is correct suggestion from my friend?
search suggestion
I stack on this problem
how to create live search same as this link http://www.w3schools.com/php/php_ajax_livesearch.asp
this is my db code
Set rsGuestbook = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
strSQL = "SELECT staff_name FROM master WHERE staff_name like '" & Request("s") & "%'"
rsGuestbook.Open strSQL, oConn
livesearch.php?q="+str,true = livesearch.php?q="+str,true
please help
First off, if you're only starting out, then don't worry overly about any particular language (unless you have a specific need to learn it). You'd be better off learning the core tenets of programming from a generic tutorial such as:
http://lifehacker.com/#!5401954/programmer-101-teach-yourself-how-to-code
Once you've got a grasp on the basics then try to learn a language suited to your goal. If that's web development then PHP/ASP.NET/RUBY etc. If it's desktop/mobile then look at C/C++/C#/Obj-C/VB.NET according to whatever the platform you are working on needs/offers.
Take a look at W3Schools for web-based languages tuts:
http://www.w3schools.com/
As to the second part of your question, there is so much wrong with your snippet of code on so many levels that I would just put it quietly aside in the cupboard, and re-visit it once you've got a better handle on the basics, and you'll see why it's wrong.
Learning C++ is quite 'advanced' and not what I'd recommend for someone who's not studying a computer science degree course or working as a professional programmer. It's a very big and complex language that requires a lot of other skills, not least object orientation and general computer science knowledge.
It would be far more appropriate for you to start with something far more simple, such as classic ASP or PHP. Choose one only! Then buy a book. Then play for a bit. Then build a simple website about your cat/hamster/car/boat/ear-wax. Then build another one using the lessons learned from the first website. I'd suggest looking at several months to hone your skills, particularly as you're doing it part time.
Learning to program is about as simple as learning to play a musical instrument. The more you practice the better you get. Some people are naturally good at it, but, alas, most aren't and have to work very hard.
When your first starting out the language isn't to important (of course go for an easier language). For the most part many of the larger languages are interchangeable (for example a cout in C++ is the pretty much the same as a System.out.print in JAVA). The more important thing you need to grasp is program structure, Object Oriented Programming principles, and the other basic "do's" and "dont's" of programming. These ideas will apply to just about every programming language you use.
IMO (and this may be wrong) the language you learn is the least important aspect when you are a beginner. Most programmers will have to use many languages in their career and spending the time to learn every in and out of each language would be a waste. For example I started out learning Visual Basic in highschool. After a few months I was switched to C++. Once I went to college I had to learn JAVA for 6 months, then switched to Ruby, then C, CSS, HTML, Android SDK and Javascript. After that I got a job and had to learn C# and how to use AJAX, .Net, facebook API and other languages. Moral of the story is the principles are more important than the languages.
My advice: First find out what you want to program. Ira Rainey has some good suggestions as to where to go and what to learn if you look at his answer (though I would include JAVA for a desktop/mobile language)
C++ shouldn't be to advanced if you have the right material to learn it. I would recommend working with C++ to make a few very basic programs. Start by trying to make a basic calculator that will send all input to command line. Once you got the basics down (+,-,*,/) then you can slowly evolve it to be more and more complex (^,%,!). This will give you a platform to build off and a goal to obtain.
Here is a site to help you learn C++
Related
Brief Description
I have a college work where I have to implement a graph library (I'll have to give a presentation about this work later)
The basic idea is to write all the code of the data structures and their algorithms from scratch, using the tools provided by some programming language, like C/C++, Java, Python, doesn't really matter which one of them I'll pick at first.
But I should not use any built-in graph libraries in the language: the goal of the work is to make the students learn how these algorithms work. There are some test cases which my program will be later submitted to.
It is not really necessary but, if you wanna take a look, here is the homework assignment: http://pastebin.com/GdtvMTMR (I used Control-C Control-V plus google translate from a LaTeX text, this is why the formatting is poor).
The Question
So, my question is: which programming language would be more time efficient to implement this library?
It doesn't really matter if the language is functional, structured or object oriented. My priority is time efficiency and performance.
The better language is the one you know more.
But if you're looking for some performance, take a look at compiled languages with optimisations. Keep in mind that the code you write is the major component responsible in final performance, the language itself cant do miracles.
A more low level language give to you controls but requires deeply knowledge of the language and the machine you're running your code, so it's a tradeoff.
By a personal choose I would recommend C/C++ to implement a graph library. I've already done this in the past and I used vanilla ANSI C and the performance was awesome.
The one you feel more passionate about and feel more comfortable coding with.
This way you will rock your project.
Myself would pick Java.
This is a generic question - i know a bit of perl and python and i am looking in to learn programming so that once i get a hang of it i can start developing apps and then websites.
I request you to give me algorithm(steps :)) that what should be my approach towards learning it.
I have posted small questions on perl/python and i have recieved great help from everyone.
Note:- i am not in a hurry to learn i know it takes time and thats fine.
Please give any suggestions you think are valid(Please dun push me to learn Lisp,Haskell - i am a beginner)
Step 1. Read
Step 2. Implement
Step 3. Repeat Step 1 until ur frustrated.
Simple Algo
Start with a good book that covers control structures, etc. (two I would recommend include Head First Programming, or learning to program (which is a Ruby book).
After that, try out some basic stuff to learn your syntax, control structures, logic, etc. - some good sites for this are:
Project Euler
Coding Dojo
Code Kata (pragpub)
Then, move up from there (at that point you may want more framework specific stuff - MVC, Rails, etc.).
On a side note - language is largely irrelevant. I'm mentoring an apprentice developer at work now (in C# but he's also looking at some Python), and in our last coding session, we wrote very little code, but spent a ton of time chewing through edge cases in a code kata.
(An addendum)
Once you're past basic control structures and syntax, you're going to find the toughest parts are design, abstraction, problem solving, etc. - so for those some good ways to pick up those skills include:
Getting a good mentor (even a virtual one).
Looking at LOTS of code. If you are not in a dev shop, look at an opensource project you're interested in to see how other people code.
Contribute to OSS
Start small, and build something for yourself (I'm always partial to building your own blog site - like a Jedi has to build their own lightsaber ;)
Have fun!
I'm really interested in becoming a serious programmer, the type that people admire for hacker chops, as opposed to a corporate drone who can't even complete FizzBuzz.
Currently I've dabbled in a few languages, most of my experience is in Perl and Shell, and I've dabbled slightly in Ruby.
However, I can't help but feel that although I know bits and pieces of languages, I don't know how to program.
I'm really in no huge rush to immediately learn a language that can land me a job (though I'd like to do it soon), and I'm considering using PLT Scheme (now called Racket) to work through How to Design Programs or Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, essentially, one of the Scheme classics, because I have always heard that they teach people how to write high-quality, usable, readable code.
However, even MIT changed its introductory course from using SICP and Scheme to one in Python.
So, I ask for the sage advice of the many experienced programmers here regarding the following:
Does Scheme (and do those books) really teach one how to program well? If so, which of the two books do you recommend?
Is this approach to learning still relevant and applicable? Am I on the right track?
Am I better off spending my time learning a more practical/common language like Python?
Is Scheme (or lisp in general) really a language that one learns, only to never use? Or do those of you who know a lisp code in it often?
Thanks, and sorry for the rambling.
If you want to learn to really program, start doing it. Quit dabbling and write code. Pick a language and write code. Solve problems and release applications. Work with experienced programmers on open source projects, but get doing. A lot.
Does Scheme (and do those books) really teach one how to program well? If so, which of the two books do you recommend?
Probably. Probably better than any of the Learn X in Y Timespan books.
Is this approach to learning still relevant and applicable? Am I on the right track?
Yes.
Am I better off spending my time learning a more practical/common language like Python?
Only if you plan to get a job in it. Scheme will give you a better foundation though.
Is Scheme (or lisp in general) really a language that one learns, only to never use? Or do those of you who know a lisp code in it often?
I do emacs elisp fiddling to adjust my emacs. I also work with functional languages on the side to try to keep my mind flexible.
My personal opinion is that there are essentially two tracks that need to be walked before the student can claim to know something about programming. Track one is the machine itself, the computer. You should start with assembly here and learn how the computer works. After some work and understanding there - don't skimp - you should learn C and then C++; really getting the understanding of resource management and what really happens. Track two is the very high level language track - Scheme, Prolog, Haskell, Perl, Python, C#, Java, and others that execute on a VM or interpreter lie in this area. These, too, need to be studied to learn how problems can be abstracted and thought about in different ways that do not involve the fiddly bits of a real computer.
However, what will not work is being a language dilettante when learning to program. You will need to find a language - Scheme is acceptable, although I'd recommend starting at the low level first - and then stick with that language for a good year at least.
The most important parts of Scheme are the programming-language concepts you can pick up that modern languages are now just adopting or adding support for.
Lisp and Scheme have supported, before most other languages, features that were often revolutionary for the time: closures and first-order functions, continuations, hygienic macros, and others. C has none of these.
But they're appearing more and more often in programming languages that Get Stuff Done today. Why can you just declare functions seemingly anywhere in JavaScript? What happens to outside variables you reference from within a function? What are these new "closures" that PHP 5.3 is just now getting? What are "side effects" and why can they be bad for parallel computing? What are "continuations" in Ruby? How do LINQ functions work? What's a "lambda" in Python? What's the big deal with F#?
These are all questions that learning Scheme will answer but C won't.
I'd say it depends on what you want to do.
If you want to get into programming, Python is probably better. It's an excellent first language, resembles most common programming languages, and is widely available. You'll find more libraries handy, and will be able to make things more easily.
If you want to get into computer science, I'd recommend Scheme along with SICP.
In either case, I'd recommend learning several very different languages eventually, to give you more ways to look at and solve problems. Getting reasonably proficient in Common Lisp, for example, will make you a better Java programmer. I'd take them one at a time, though.
The best languages to start with are probably:
a language you want to play/learn in
a language you want to work in
And probably in that order, too, unless the most urgent need is to feed yourself.
Here's the thing: the way to learn to program is to do it a lot. In order to do it a lot, you're going to need a lot of patience and more than a little bit of enthusiasm. This is more important than the specific language you pick.... but picking a language that you like working in (whether because you like the features or because you feel it'll teach you something) can be a big boost.
That said, here's a couple of comments on Scheme:
Does Scheme (and do those books)
really teach one how to program well?
The thing about Scheme (or something like it) is that if you learn it, it'll teach you some very useful abstractions that a lot of programmers who don't ever really come to grips with a functional programming language never learn. You'll think differently The substance of programming languages and computing will look more fluid to you. You'll have a better idea of how to compose your own quasi-primitives out of a very small set of primitives rather than relying on the generally static set of primitives offered in some other languages.
The problem is that a lot of what I'm saying might not mean much to you at the moment, and it's a bit more of a mind-bending road than coming into a common dynamic language like Perl, Python, or Ruby... or even a language like C which is close to the Von Neumann mechanics of the machine.
This doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad idea to start there: I've been part of an experiment where we taught Prolog of all things to first-time programmers, and it worked surprisingly well. Sometimes beginner's mind actually helps. :) But Scheme as a first language is definitely an unconventional path. I suspect Ruby or Python would be a gentler road.
Is Scheme (or lisp in general) really
a language that one learns, only to
never use?
It's a language that you're unlikely to be hired to program in. However, while you're learning to program, and after you've learned and are doing it in your free time, you can write code in whatever you want, and because of the Internet, you'll probably be able to find people working on open source projects in whatever language you want. :)
I hate to tell ya, but nobody admires programmers for their "hacker chops". There's people who get shit done, then there's everyone else. A great many of the former types are the "corporate drones" you appear to hold in contempt.
Now, for your question, I personally love Lisp (and Scheme), but if you want something you're more likely to use in industry "Beginning Python" might be better material for you as Python is found more often in the wild. Or if you enjoy Ruby, find some good Ruby material and start producing working solutions (same with Java or .Net or whatever).
Really, either route will serve you well. The trick is to stick with it until you've internalized the concepts being taught.
Asking whether an approach to learning is relevant and applicable is tricky - there are many different learning styles, and it's a matter of finding out which ones apply to you personally. Bear in mind that the style you like best might not be the one that actually works best for you :-)
You've got plenty of time and it sounds like you have enthusiasm to spare, so it's not a matter of which language you should learn, but which one you should learn first. personally, I'd look at what you've learnt so far, what types of languages and paradigms you've got under your belt, and then go off on a wild tangent and chose one completely different.
I started programming at a very very young age. When I was in high school, I thought I was a good programmer. That's when I started learning about HOW and WHY the languages work rather than just the syntax.
Before learning the how and why, switching to a new language would have been hell. I had learned a language, but I hadn't learned to program. Now that I know the fundamental concepts well, I can apply them to virtually any language and pick it up with ease.
I would highly recommend a book (or even a school coarse, if you can afford it) that takes you through the processes of coding without relying on a specific language.
Unfortunately I don't have any books to recommend, but if others agree with me and know of any, maybe they can offer a suggestion.
//Edit: After re-reading your question, I realize that I may have not actually answered any of them... Sorry about that. I think picking up a book that will take you in-depth with best-practices would be extremely helpful, regardless of the language you choose.
There are basic programming concepts (logic flow, data structures), which are easily taught by using languages like Python. However, there are much more complex programming concepts (design patterns, optimization, threading, etc.) which the classic languages don't abstract away for you.
If your search for knowledge leans more toward algorithm development and the science of programming, start with C. If your search is more for a practical ends, I hear Ruby is a good starting point.
I agree with gruszczy. I'd start programming with C.
It may be kind of scary at first (at least for me :S ) but in the long run you'd be grateful it. I mean I love Python, but because I learned C first, the learning curve for other languages wasn't very steep at all.
Start with C and make it so.
Just remember to practice, because you'll never improve at something by doing nothing. ;)
To a specific point in your question, the "classics" you mention will help you with exactly what the titles say. SICP is about the structure and interpretation of computer programs. It is not about learning Scheme (though you will learn Scheme). HtDP is about how to design programs, it is not about learning Scheme (though you will learn Scheme).
Scheme, in principle, is a very small and concise language with almost no gotchas. This makes it excellent for moving on to learning how to structure and interpret programs, or how to design them. More traditional "practical" languages like C, C++, Python, or Java do not have this quality. They are rife with syntax. Learning with these languages means you must simultaneously learn syntactical quirks while learning to think like a programmer. In my opinion, this is unfortunate. In some cases the quirks are good, in others they are accidents of history, but in all cases it is unfortunate.
Start coding in C. It should be a horror for you at first, but this teaches you most important stuff like: pointers, recurrence, memory management. Try reading some classic books about programming like The Art of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth. After you master that, you can think about learning object oriented programming or functional programming. First basics. If fou manage to learn them, nothing will be hard for you ever again.
if i like Ruby a lot, is there a reason I should learn another language now, such as Lua or Erlang?
New programming languages, much like spoken languages, can open up new perspectives. Learning new languages -- especially ones rather different from what you're used to (and Erlang will probably fit that bill) -- can teach you a lot of different things you didn't even know you didn't know about programming. So yes, I think you absolutely should, even if you just learn enough to tinker with it and get a feel for the new language.
Learning a functional language in particular can be extremely beneficial. Becoming familiar with the functional style of programming is a surefire step toward becoming a better programmer. Lisp (or its derivatives) in particular is a good language to study. Here's a list of past thread on SO that might offer you some insight along these lines:
Why do people think functional programming will catch on?
What’s a good Functional language to learn?
Benefits of learning scheme?
Leaving aside the (excellent) general reasons to want to learn another language, if you like Ruby a lot you might want to
Learn Smalltalk, which is a language very, very similar to Ruby but in purer form.
Learn a language that is very, very different—say something that is based on algebraic data types and functions rather than objects and methods, and something with a static type system rather than a dynamic type system—but something that, like Ruby, will support powerful methods of program composition and generic programming. Good candidates would include Standard ML and Haskell.
Learn a language that is very, very different—say something that makes you control every bit, address, and word in memory—something that forces you to understand and take control of the hardware. In other words, learn C.
Regarding the other languages you mention,
Lua is small and very elegantly designed and implemented. That may appeal to the Rubyist in you. But unlike Ruby it does not impose much of a worldview; it is more of a collection of piece parts. I would suggest you're more likely to appreciate and enjoy Lua after you've worked in three or four other languages first.
Erlang is interesting, but I have a gut feel it's either too different (purely functional, distributed) or not different enough (dynamic type system). But if it appeals to you, go for it.
On the other hand, there's something to be said for really knowing a language well. You'll be able to do a lot more with in-depth knowledge of a single language than you will with surface knowledge of a dozen.
If you like Ruby a lot you should definitely learn another language... one without sigils if possible.
Seems to me that a professional learns the tools he needs to use. Frameworks, containers, languages, all are fair game. I started out in Pascal, went to C and then C++. Then converted to Java. These days its mostly Java with a lot of Javascript and some PHP. Easy enough right? Well, I also need to learn Bash scripting and Perl. Never mind all the other crap I need to get on top of (if you say you understand all of web authentication I will call you a liar). There's a lot of stuff out there. Jump in. Be willing to try different things.
I always enjoy learning new languages for the mere challenge of it. It keeps my brain fit. I've also found it makes for good job interview fodder to be able to say "I'm flexible. I'm adaptable to whatever your needs may be in the future. And I can prove it with my long list of languages."
My main language is PHP. I am a script language fan, nevertheless I have dived into C#, Java, Python, Ruby and even OO JavaScript books to find new mechanisms, ways of thinking. I have found pretty many stunts in Java for example, that I could implement in my all day work. So learning or just studying new languages can widen your perspective.
I've just started one of my courses, as classes just began 2 weeks ago, and we are learning Scheme right now in one for I assume some reason later on, but so far from what he is teaching is basically how to write in scheme. As I sit here trying to stay awake I'm just trying to grasp why I would want to know this, and why anyone uses it. What does it excel at? Next week I plan to ask him, whats the goal to learn here other than just how to write stuff in scheme.
It's a functional programming language and will do well broaden your experience.
Even if you don't use it in the real world doesn't mean it doesn't have any value. It will help you master things like recursion and help to force you to think of problems in different ways than you normally would.
I wish my school forced us to learn a functional programming language.
Languages like LISP (and the very closely related Scheme) are to programming what Latin is to English.
You may never speak Latin a day in your normal life again after taking a course, but simply learning a language like Latin will improve your ability to use English.
The same is true for Scheme.
I see all these people here saying that while they would never actually use Scheme again it's nevertheless been a worthwhile language to learn because it forces a certain way of thinking. While this can be true, I would hope that you would learn Scheme because you eventually will find it useful and not simply as an exercise in learning.
Though it's not blazingly fast like a compiled language, nor is it particularly useful at serving websites or parsing text, I've found that Scheme (and other lisps by extension) has no parallel when it comes to simplicity, elegance, and powerful functional manipulation of complex data structures. To be honest, I think in Scheme. It's the language I solve problems in. Don't give up on or merely tolerate Scheme - give it a chance and it won't disappoint you.
By the way, the best IDE for Scheme is DrScheme, and it contains language extensions to do anything you can do in another language, and if you find something it can't you can just use the C FFI and write it yourself.
I would suggest to keep an open mind when learning. Most of the time in school we don't fully comprehend what/why we are learning a particular subject. But as I've experienced about a million times in life, it turns out to be very useful and at the very least being aware of it helps you. Scheme, believe it or not, will make you a better programmer.
Some people say Scheme's greatest strength is as a teaching language. While it is very beneficial to learn functional programming (it's an entirely new way of thinking) another benefit in learning scheme is that it is also "pure". Sure it can't do a ton of stuff like java, but that's also what's great about it, it's a language made entirely of parentheses, alphanumeric characters, and a mere handful other punctuations.
In my intro course, we are taught Java, and I see lots of my friends struggling with 'public static void main' even though that's not the point of the program and how the profs have no choice but to 'handwave' it until they're more advanced. You don't see that in Scheme.
If you really want to learn what Scheme can do in a piece of cake that is really hard to implement in languages like Java, I suggest looking at this: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-12.html#%_sec_1.3
This is probably the best book written on Scheme.
Scheme was used by NASA to program some of the Mars rovers. It's usage in the marketplace is pretty specific, but like I'm sure your teachers are telling you, the things you learn in Scheme will carry over to programming in general.
Try not to get caught up on details like the parenthesis, and car/cdr. Most of what you're learning translates to other languages in one way or another. Don't worry about whether or not you can take Scheme to the market place, chances are you'll be learning some other more marketable languages in other classes. What you are learning here is more important.
If you are learning scheme, you can learn all about how object systems are implemented (hint: an object system isn't always about a type that has methods and instance variables bound to it...). While this kind of knowledge won't help in 95% of your daily work, for 5% of your work you will depend on that knowledge.
Additionally, you can learn about completely different styles of computation, such as streams/lazy evaluation, or even logic programming. You could also learn more about how computer programs in general are interpreted; from the basics in how program code is evaluated, to more deeper aspects like making your own interpreter and compiler). Knowing this kind of information is what separates a good programmer from a great programmer.
Scheme is not really a Functional language, it's more method agnostic then that. Perhaps more to the point, Scheme is an excellent language to choose if you want to explore with different methods of computation. As an example, a highly parallel functional language "Termite" was built on top of Scheme.
In short, the point in learning scheme is so that you can learn the fundamentals of programming.
If you need some help in making programming in scheme more enjoyable, don't be afraid to ask. A lot of programmers get hung up on (for instance) the parenthesis, when there are perfectly great ways to work with scheme source code that makes parenthesis something to cherish, rather then hate. As an example, emacs with paredit-mode,some kind of scheme interaction mode and highlight-parenthesis-mode is pretty awesome.
My problem was when learning this we learned clisp right along with it. I couldn't keep the two strait to save my life.
What I did learn from them though was how to write better c and java code. This is simply because of the different programming style I learned. I have adapted more of the functional style into some of my programming and It has helped me in some cases.
I would never want to program in scheme or lisp again if I didn't have to, but I am glad that I at least did a little in them just to learn the different way to program.
Functional languages like Scheme have great application to mathematics, artificial intelligence, linguistics, and other highly theoretical areas of computer science (machine learning, natural language processing, etc). This is due to the purity of functional programming languages, which have no side effects, as well as their ability to navigate higher-order procedures with ease. A strong knowledge of functional programming languages is critical for solving many of the questions which hover just beyond the frontier of computer science. As a bonus, you'll get great with higher-order procedures and recursion.