14 replies to this topic

[BearDog]

Hey guys,
Obviously I am new to this forum. I am at a stagnation in my growth as a programmer and need some guidance from the more experienced. I am finishing up at a four year college, and no, I didn't major in computer science. I have taken classes in it though, intro to java, and a applied mathematics course that deals with programming method. I switched to linux about a year and a half ago so I could become more comfortable with command line and such. Programming is a side interest of mine, not necessarily a career.


Anyways, I really enjoy the very basic projects given to me in the intro class, I like having problems to solve. But now I am kinda lost as to where to go from here. I don't even know what to read or try at this point. I know the simple question is: well what do you want to do? Ideally I want to become competent enough to begin writing programs that are actually useful, plug ins, that kinda thing. I would also like increasingly difficult programming problems so that I can continue growing... but outside the classroom I don't know where to find these things?

How did you guys become better?

Are there any threads/tutorials/books you guys recommend?

Thanks

[WingedPanther]

Sourceforge.net has a wealth of programs that are all open-source. They are also looking for help, so you can review code and attempt to help make it better.

[Chinmoy]

hey wait wait!you seem like a confused guy. I'd tell you take some time of. Reflect and spend some time with yourself. Know yourself. And then get into something.

[BearDog]

Chinmoy said:

hey wait wait!you seem like a confused guy. I'd tell you take some time of. Reflect and spend some time with yourself. Know yourself. And then get into something.

That isn't helpful at all, I was asking for concrete advice, not pseudo-spiritual platitudes to increase your post count. I am not confused. Thanks anyways though.

WingedPanther said:

Sourceforge.net has a wealth of programs that are all open-source. They are also looking for help, so you can review code and attempt to help make it better.

Thank you for this advice though WingedPanther, hadn't really considered Sourceforge, downloaded from it many a time though. Will give it a look. Thanks

[Chinmoy]

you are not just confused, you are arrogant and rude. Listen, with an intro into java which is not even a mainstream desktop application programming language you want to go into developing plugin where this is not really your area of study, do you at all know how a plugin works or for that sake do you know a thing about PLAF? and hell with you for insulting spiritualism. It has helped me become a better programmer, it is our cultural heritage and you the idiot will never know. and -rep me for this mods but i am sorry and thats the way it is.

[WingedPanther]

Actually, jEdit is written in java and has numerous plugins (also written in java). I have several excellent applications that I use that were written in java, including the best GURPS character sheet program I've ever seen and a good map-sharing program. I don't care for Java myself, but I've seen some really excellent stuff done in it.

[BearDog]

Chinmoy said:

you are not just confused, you are arrogant and rude. Listen, with an intro into java which is not even a mainstream desktop application programming language you want to go into developing plugin where this is not really your area of study, do you at all know how a plugin works or for that sake do you know a thing about PLAF? and hell with you for insulting spiritualism. It has helped me become a better programmer, it is our cultural heritage and you the idiot will never know. and -rep me for this mods but i am sorry and thats the way it is.

Chinmoy, sorry, did not mean to be insulting. I know Java is not necessarily the language I need, I was just giving my background . I was looking for what else I needed to learn, that included other languages, to start making more complex stuff. I obviously don't know much, thats why I was asking.

[Xav]

Welcome to CC!

[Chinmoy]

If you feel like, you can actually use java and learn the SWING platform with EJB, but once again swing is not thread safe, so it wont really find a greater acceptance. But with more and more IDE's written in java, you can join the race. Creating an image editor and a chat client were my first two desktop applications written in java. But they are such big meory hogs, you have to worry a lot about the threading part.

To start with, take wingedPanther's advice. Pull some codes off sourceforge and understand them. It might give you better ideas.
You can also go for C++ and use a GUI toolkit. Some people here are fluent in that as well. C# is another really good option.

If you want to do some core system prgramming start learning C and nevertheless welcome to codecall and merry christmas.

[Egz0N]

Welcome to CC !! :)

[nicckk]

Welcome to CodeCall, I hope you enjoy the community.