Hai thar /prog/ I'm 15, going into sophmore year of highschool, and getting to be decent with computers. My last 2 computers have been built by me, I've done some game modding/scripting(Major TES fan), and I succesfully tri-boot gentoo lunix, freebsd, and XP. Overall, I know a pretty decent amount of my shit, and I've just recently started getting into programming. I've started out by learning Java, mainly because I want to take the AP exam for Comp Sci, and that means Java. I bought a book to learn the language, and a review book for the actual exam. My question, has anyone here taken the AP Comp Sci A or AB exams recently? Suggestions? Java isn't the most popular language from what I gather, so what should I learn after that?
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Anonymous2007-08-02 5:48 ID:+w7FmrFG
You are so naïve. You think you know your shit? Typical teenager! You know fuck all. Maybe one day you'll realize that.
Figures. No, I'm not saying I know more than most people. I don't hold any high ideas about how fucking l33t I am. I respect the experience of those better than I, and try to learn from them. I am kindly asking for any advice the more experienced would like to offer. You can give the /b/ response if you like, that's up to you.
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Anonymous2007-08-02 6:20 ID:FAJ0vk5V
Learn C# as a practical language. After that learn some other programming languages for fun and to broaden your knowledge.
Java isn't the most popular language from what I gather, so what should I learn after that?
Yes, Java is shit. What you should learn depends on what you want to do, if you're looking for job then previously suggested C# is a good choice or C/C++/PHP depending on what you like to develop, but these aren't nice programming languages either. Situation gets more interesting if you can chose in which language you develop, but it again depends on what you need/like, decent programmers usually just pick up a bunch of languages and see which ones they like, the more you know the better programmer you become, even if you never use the language you learned. Some suggestions to get you started: Smalltalk, Lisp, Haskel, Erlang (unordered).
AP Comp Sci A or AB exams
WTF is that? I don't care..
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Anonymous2007-08-02 6:42 ID:7HmII0k9
Just give up now, as I doubt you're intelligent enough to cope with the rigours of programming.
Don't read SICP. It ruins your ability to program while making you think you have some sort of meta-programming enlightenment. Something called "shitori" or something like that. Just look at half the posts on this board for examples.
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Anonymous2007-08-02 7:40 ID:JH2IdO1R
For something completely different, pick up some assembler. Maybe not for x86 but something a little simpler, like AVR. This gives you a very good idea about hardware, operating systems, and of course C code.
The best set:
C/C++ because it underpins everything
ASM, because it underpins C
LISP so you appreciate data structures, recursion, and functional programming
Java because it is all throughout the education system
C# .NET because having money is nice
Or you could go JavaScript, Java, ActionScript, SQL, Perl, PHP, XHTML and CSS and make money as a WebDev. These are all quite easy, so you won't get respect here.
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Anonymous2007-08-02 9:44 ID:bLzNb5J5
>>1 OKAY YOU FUQIN ANGERED AN EXPERT PROGRAMMER
GODFUCKIGNDAMN
FIRST OF ALL, YOU DONT FUQIN KNOW WHAT A MAN PAGE IS
SECONDLY, THIS IS /prog/ DO NOT DEMAND USEFUL ANSWERS THE WAY YOU WANT THEM TO BE
THIRDLY PROGRAMMING IS ALL ABOUT PHILOSOPHY AND ``ABSTRACT BULLSHITE'' THAT YOU WILL NEVER COMPREHEND
AND FUQIN LASTLY, FUCK OFF WITH YOUR BULLSHYT
EVERYTHING HAS ALREADY BEEN ANSWERED IN>>7 and >>12
>>My question, has anyone here taken the AP Comp Sci A or AB exams recently?
I took the AP Comp Sci A exam a few years ago and it was rediculously easy.
>>1
Don't focus on learning languages; learn to _program_. Syntax is easy to learn- you can pick that shit up in a couple hours if you're not a blithering idiot. An actual understanding of how to use what and when to practically solve real-world problems is far more important and will get you much further in this field.
>>21
Not quite. Actually ``programming'' something is easy. If you have basic common sense, then anyone can pick it up in a couple of hours, if not instantly. Actually picking a language for the right task, knowing the intracies of that language and how to use it properly and effectively is the real problem.
Also, there seems to be a shift in the industry toward the actual design process of software. I know this may suprise you teenage programmer virgins, but software isn't developed by hacking away in your basement in isolation. You typically work within teams, and follow a formal design process, before you actually code anything.
>>23 software isn't developed by hacking away in your basement in isolation
No way! I have hacked together a bunch of software in my basement! As a matter of fact I'm doing that right now!
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Anonymous2007-08-03 6:32 ID:TsnsYcvC
You actually live in a basement? All the cellars I've seen have been dingy, damp and dusty - certainly not suitable for habitation.
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Anonymous2007-08-03 7:34 ID:WS0I77u3
Not quite. Actually ``playing golf''is easy. If you have basic motor skills, then anyone can pick it up in a couple of hours, if not instantly. Actually picking a club for the right task, knowing the intracies of the course and how to use it properly and effectively is the real problem.
Programming something is easy if you don't think about how you program.
Programming something *well* becomes hard.
Any idiot can sort a list, but the smart ones can do it with n log n comparisons. The idiots you speak of, the ones that picked it up in a couple of hours, do it with n^2 comparisons.
Esp. if you are teaching yourself -- the Java you learn for the AP exam will let you pass the AP exam. You *need* to take time after that to focus on algorithms and data structures. That will make you a good programmer, not learning a different language.
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Anonymous2007-08-03 7:42 ID:IM8CPIsc
i got a 1 on the comp sci ap test. and i know got an A in the class. i was good enough to make a wordsearch program that searched up,down, to the right and to the left through a matrix of random letters for a specific word.
I find that the most difficult part of programming is keeping track of what I'm doing. Many times I've been working on a different section of my program only to find that I've completely forgotten how another part of it works. Good commenting and abstraction helps, of course, but I'm so forgetful. It's incredibly frustrating.
You have to learn Java to get into Comp Science? FUCK
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Anonymous2007-08-03 18:57 ID:xaNZBprL
>>41
TAOCP. If you finish it you will evolve into higher life.
Seriously, though, after you've read up and you think you are tough shit, go read TAOCP.
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Anonymous2007-08-03 19:00 ID:TFyVz1bh
Protip: no computers on AP exams, be prepared to write all your shit out in a paper booklet with a pencil. You gotta do it right the first time, no chance for debugging.
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Anonymous2007-08-03 21:40 ID:9RmK/Cqz
"You gotta do it right the first time"
or almost right. one or two silly mistakes do no harm.
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Anonymous2007-08-03 21:57 ID:BKCxKnog
Just comment out your broken code, geez
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Anonymous2007-08-03 23:54 ID:dQD93/nw
Wow you've installed Gentoo? You are hardcore d00dz0r!
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Anonymous2007-08-04 0:47 ID:Hy89+JUj
learn ROFLMAO thats a good language
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Anonymous2007-08-04 1:37 ID:FIVbyPLF
Fuck Programing, I'm 16, going in Senior Year, and I scored a job at IBM.
Get MCSA/CCNA and some shitless A+/ L+ and N+ and you'd be set making 45k minunium part time, 60k Full time give or take.
Get to college, and get their fucking useless degree and you'd get 85K+ for doing the same work as before, this is what I'm doing with a dual enrollment (Hey, Highschool credits count as college so for less time in fucking college w/ fucking idiots and such, lawl.
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Anonymous2007-08-04 1:52 ID:yXT3LjWO
That's fine. If you don't like writing software, you don't like writing software. Different strokes for different folks.
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Anonymous2009-03-06 10:58
Typical Python or even a memory address all it does look like an unholy union of all of the user experience making HUGE Maps that you couldnt even comprehend how I could automate things 11 For how long have you ONLY READ SICP while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast while eating breakfast.