[ale] Programming Question - Where to Start

stephen stephen at phynp6.phy-astr.gsu.edu
Wed Oct 24 10:29:27 EDT 2001


Personally, I think an excellent book to start with is "Introduction to
Computing and Algorithms" by Russel Shackelford, ISBN 0-201-31451-7.  It
will teach you problem solving using fundamental concepts of computer
science (basic data structures, concepts of procedural languages and OO
languages, etc.).  The interesting part about the book is that all of your
algorithms are implemented in a pseudo-code that looks like a cross between
a lot modern languages today (kinda like Java with pointers, but not as
ugly as C++).  I realize people have agendas as far as being programmers
or theoretical computer scientists, but this book really does teach the
basics of problem solving which sets a good foundation for programming.
And it comes right outta Ga. Tech, so I know plenty of people around
here have seen it.

At the same time, you might want also want to play with something practical.
If scripting is your style, then the python website (python.org) has a good
tutorial.  And you might also want to check out knking.com.  Dr. King is
a professor here at GSU, and wrote some really good intro books using C
and Java.

stephen

On Wed, Oct 24, 2001 at 10:00:49AM -0400, Charles Marcus wrote:
> I am ready to admit that I need to acquire some basic programming skills,
> and believe that Perl is probably the best place to start.
> 
> I have done some very basic high-level 'programming', in the form of PAL
> (Paradox App Lang) scripting a long time ago, and more recently some
> Filemake Pro scripting, but in no way consider myself to be a programmer.  I
> have peeked at some Perl scripts, and am mystified by what I see.
> 
> So, my question is, where shouod I start?  Is there a good book for absolute
> beginners, that won't assume that I know a bunch of stuff that I don't?
> Should I take a class?  Both?  I was planning on finding a good book for
> beginners, worky my way through that, then once I know enough to be
> dangerous, see if I can find a class.
> 
> Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
> 
> Charles Marcus
> 
> 
> 
> ---
> This message has been sent through the ALE general discussion list.
> See http://www.ale.org/mailing-lists.shtml for more info. Problems should be 
> sent to listmaster at ale dot org.
> 

---
This message has been sent through the ALE general discussion list.
See http://www.ale.org/mailing-lists.shtml for more info. Problems should be 
sent to listmaster at ale dot org.






More information about the Ale mailing list