I want to be a good programmer but right now I suck

[Darkstar757]

Just to give some folks insight to what I am trying to convey here. I am former undergraduate CS student and I finished my BS in Comp Sci about 10 years ago. While I was in school my focus was Linux and Unix and hence I became a Linux System Administrator. However, I have reached the point where I want to be a good programmer esp using Python as my job seems to be headed in that direction.
My problem is I understand all the basics such as for,while loops, using variables,lists, however when it comes to Arrays and data structures I just can not seem to get it. Once I reach these concepts I seem to lose it and never go any further. I have reached a point that I am tired of quiting and I want to become good at this. Can anyone recommend what I should do to get better. Also how much time am I looking at so that I can encompass this into my daily life.


Thanks,

Darkstar

 

[Markbnj]

Wow, interesting post. I'm surprised that you can achieve a BS in Computer Science without learning to program.

I can't offer concrete advice on what you should do, other than that you should write some code, or how long it will take. When I was first learning back in the early 80's I wrote code 12-14 hours per day, simply because I liked doing it more than just about anything else that I could have been doing at the time.

I guess I would suggest simply picking a small application idea and coding it up. If you run into roadblocks post about them here and we'll help out.

 

[Darkstar757]

Originally posted by: Markbnj
Wow, interesting post. I'm surprised that you can achieve a BS in Computer Science without learning to program.

I can't offer concrete advice on what you should do, other than that you should write some code, or how long it will take. When I was first learning back in the early 80's I wrote code 12-14 hours per day, simply because I liked doing it more than just about anything else that I could have been doing at the time.

I guess I would suggest simply picking a small application idea and coding it up. If you run into roadblocks post about them here and we'll help out.

Well thing is I could code but in Ada. Also our program was geared for other topics such as networking and such. I took only the bare min about of pure programming courses.

 

[KIAman]

My best advice is experience. If you have a home test environment, whip something up that directly involve the parts you feel weak at. Also, looking at code samples help but the best method is just to immerse yourself.

Also, what is it about datastructures and arrays that seem to get you stumped?

 

[JasonCoder]

OpenCourseware, hit up your local Tech School for some night classes, etc.

 

[ivan2]

data structures are concepts not actual python programming techniques. understand the concept, then learn how to implement them in python, it will save you some confusions.

 

[Dravic]

Originally posted by: Darkstar757

Originally posted by: Markbnj
Wow, interesting post. I'm surprised that you can achieve a BS in Computer Science without learning to program.

I can't offer concrete advice on what you should do, other than that you should write some code, or how long it will take. When I was first learning back in the early 80's I wrote code 12-14 hours per day, simply because I liked doing it more than just about anything else that I could have been doing at the time.

I guess I would suggest simply picking a small application idea and coding it up. If you run into roadblocks post about them here and we'll help out.

Well thing is I could code but in Ada. Also our program was geared for other topics such as networking and such. I took only the bare min about of pure programming courses.

To be honest you did yourself this disservice. What your looking for is the mid level programing and logic classes you "skipped".

Your best bet is come up with a couple of projects/utilities you would like to use for your won personal use. I have a python web gallery pet project that I'm coding for two reasons. To get better at python, and because none of the existing galleries do what i want them to do (mysql backend of the photo exif data).

That and something like O'Reilly's "Programing python". Go to borders grab a few Python programming books off the shelf, and see which one fits your learning style. Maybe choose one that walks you though a couple of sample projects it makes YOU code.

 

[Cogman]

A good book and a goal are what you need right now. I find that if I am not trying to achieve anything in particular other then "Learning programming" I have a really hard time programming. I need some end goal in order to get to where I want to be.

You might not be the same, but It couldn't hurt. Find some problem or task as a system admin that you have to do manually, then program a solution to do it automatically.

 

[tfinch2]

If you want to learn data structures, Python is not the language for you.

 

[LumbergTech]

Originally posted by: Cogman
A good book and a goal are what you need right now. I find that if I am not trying to achieve anything in particular other then "Learning programming" I have a really hard time programming. I need some end goal in order to get to where I want to be.

You might not be the same, but It couldn't hurt. Find some problem or task as a system admin that you have to do manually, then program a solution to do it automatically.

I agree with this guy.

 

[Dravic]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
If you want to learn data structures, Python is not the language for you.

I agree, the higher level languages while nice for reducing code and increasing productivity, are not very good at teaching you some of the core basics of coding as they do a lot of the work for you.