Learning Computers And Science?
17 May 2012, 12:52 am
Ive been interested for years in these things but it just seems to me that the programs that I try to learn dont explain why or how things work especially in computer programming? Or the language is so complex that it goes right over my head? I also seem to notice that when it comes to formulas I have trouble remembering the steps and remembering which formula to apply to get something done/solved? (I have a incredible hard time with math and science that involves showing work, in my head I can usually do this just fine, but my teachers think I cheat)This at times leaves me very frustrated?
Oh and are there girl programmers(yes I'm a girl) out there? I seem to be the only girl that I know in real life that likes computers and the other nerdy like men either want sex from me in return for there "kindness(teaching me)" or think I'm too stupid to learn(there the bitter type)....HELP, any ideas?
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Keniichi
17 May 2012, 11:14 am
Oh and are there girl programmers(yes I'm a girl) out there? I seem to be the only girl that I know in real life that likes computers and the other nerdy like men either want sex from me in return for there "kindness(teaching me)" or think I'm too stupid to learn(there the bitter type)....HELP, any ideas?
Women are well represented in the software business.
And that goes back a long way. Look up the career of Admiral (USN) Grace Hopper who invented the programming language COBOL.
ruveyn
17 May 2012, 4:07 pm
So... What is your question?
yes I believe my question was are there any programs out there that actually teach why things are going the way they do? Ive tried Visual Basic, Basic, C, etc...They dont seem to tell me why or how the programs actually work?
Granted I get the basics of these programs but I just want to know why and how they work?
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Keniichi
17 May 2012, 8:55 pm
Wikibooks has some good tutorials on programming languages. Often they'll include some exercises allowing you to try out your programming skills too, which is very important. You have to learn programming by doing it. I don't know what would be a good language to learn. Java is pretty easy, but not a common one to use for anything other than web applets. Python is becoming a really popular language and is extremely powerful. But I found it a little bit odd to learn and debugging it can be a terrible headache (I taught to myself earlier this week for my job as a research assistant). If you are interested in Python, a good resource for you might be this. That's actually for a slightly old version of Python, but the guide for the newest version still isn't quite completed. There is another good guide on there called Think Python which was what I mostly used to learn the language. Remember that when programming, Google is your friend. You can look up al sorts of stuff about a language's syntax online. Also know where to find the language's online documentation, which should include listings and details about every command. I wish I could advise you what is a good environment to program in, but I'm a Linux user and just use a text editor and the command line for most of my programming. On Windows that doesn't work nearly as nicely. If you are interested in learning Java (or just finding some information on some different algorithms) this is the link to an introductory computer science course website. You can find powerpoints, sample code, and assignments to try: Intro to Computer Science.
Understanding how a programming language works is harder. How much depth do you want? I don't have a clue how you get from source code to a string of binary (other than that you use the magic compiler/interpretor), or how a processor works. But some of the details, such as how a language accesses variables, or how some of the built-in functions work should be something you can find out if you want to. For that you'll want an open source language, like Python. You should bee able to dig up the source code that it uses for some of the built in commands. But I can't offer much else in terms of help there. I have no idea how you go from high level language to executable binary code, and honestly don't care to learn.
Advice on other science is harder to give. One thing: you shouldn't try to memorize every formula (normally you're allowed a cheat sheet on tests) or even the method to solve every type of problem. What is far more important is to learn the skills that you need to work out how to solve a problem. Be aware of what you know and what you need and look at how to can string equations together so that you can calculate what you need from what you know. Take advantage of any symmetry or conservation laws. For example, it is quite easy to calculate the final velocities of two objects undergoing an elastic collision because you can just use the Law of Conservation of Momentum and Law of Conservation of Energy.
By the way, the first computer programmer was a woman named Ada Lovelace. Although her programs were never used because they were designed for Babbage's Analytical Engine, which was never completed. This was all in the 1800s, but looking back at her programs now we know that they would have worked.
Last edited by AstroGeek on 17 May 2012, 9:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
17 May 2012, 9:50 pm
Understanding how a programming language works is harder. How much depth do you want? I don't have a clue how you get from source code to a string of binary (other than that you use the magic compiler/interpretor), or how a processor works. But some of the details, such as how a language accesses variables, or how some of the built-in functions work should be something you can find out if you want to. For that you'll want an open source language, like Python. You should bee able to dig up the source code that it uses for some of the built in commands. But I can't offer much else in terms of help there. I have no idea how you go from high level language to executable binary code, and honestly don't care to learn.
Advice on other science is harder to give. One thing: you shouldn't try to memorize every formula (normally you're allowed a cheat sheet on tests) or even the method to solve every type of problem. What is far more important is to learn the skills that you need to work out how to solve a problem. Be aware of what you know and what you need and look at how to can string equations together so that you can calculate what you need from what you know. Take advantage of any symmetry or conservation laws. For example, it is quite easy to calculate the final velocities of two objects undergoing an elastic collision because you can just use the Law of Conservation of Momentum and Law of Conservation of Energy.
By the way, the first computer programmer was a woman named Ada Lovelace. Although her programs were never used because they were designed for Babbage's Analytical Engine, which was never completed. This was all in the 1800s, but looking back at her programs now we know that they would have worked.
Thanks for the reply! I seem to notice as far as learning languages I don't learn from regular books and regular programs. I seem to learn best through the "teach yourself visually books" but they don't offer every programming language and as far as understanding programs goes I want to know how things get translated from languages etc, ie(to understand the whole process?). Like I know when you type in something the computer goes through a bunch of script binary numbers that sort of thing? I don't know any girls here in real life who like computers they all seem to like texting and giggling at guys...Its quite frustrating!
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Keniichi
18 May 2012, 2:00 pm
btw I dont see a link in your quote? Could you please repaste?
The links are there. They look like the same as regular text except that they are a bit smaller. I've posted them again below though:
Non-programmer's Tutorial for Python
Intro to Computer Science Course Website
I guess to learn more about how programming languages work you could 1) try to find a book on it at your library or 2) look at the documentation or development forums for open source languages (like Python).
19 May 2012, 11:14 am
Granted I get the basics of these programs but I just want to know why and how they work?
College programs? Sure. Computer programs? Doubt it.
If you want to teach yourself, I will recommend assembly language, micro programs, IJVM (a simple Java Virtual Machine with only integers) for the basic of how things work in the deepest layer (a book like Structured Computer Organization presents some very simple processor models). As for the language itself, try a language like Scheme. It's pretty much used only for teaching programming languages and it's very simple.
Also, if you're writing in C without trying to make objects or anything like that, then C can be translated in a rather simple manner straight into assembly language. Object oriented and functional languages, however, it's better to study how languages themselves work, and not how they're translated on the lowest level.
20 May 2012, 12:46 am
Granted I get the basics of these programs but I just want to know why and how they work?
College programs? Sure. Computer programs? Doubt it.
If you want to teach yourself, I will recommend assembly language, micro programs, IJVM (a simple Java Virtual Machine with only integers) for the basic of how things work in the deepest layer (a book like Structured Computer Organization presents some very simple processor models). As for the language itself, try a language like Scheme. It's pretty much used only for teaching programming languages and it's very simple.
Also, if you're writing in C without trying to make objects or anything like that, then C can be translated in a rather simple manner straight into assembly language. Object oriented and functional languages, however, it's better to study how languages themselves work, and not how they're translated on the lowest level.
Thanks I was talking to someone I actually know(but dont get to talk to much) and he said I should start with assembly language as to answer the WHY and HOW questions that I had asked. As for looking up Scheme that I will do, but should I wait till I find assembly programs? What are their assembly names and where can I download them?
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Keniichi
20 May 2012, 6:42 am
Can you give us an example of your how/why-questions? I think this would help narrow down what you need to look at.
My impression is that you should first look at an introductory book / class about how computers work. Maybe take a look at a book like
"Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective" by Randal E. Bryant, or at online courses like
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-e ... ring-2011/
or
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-e ... ring-2005/
20 May 2012, 8:26 pm
My impression is that you should first look at an introductory book / class about how computers work. Maybe take a look at a book like
"Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective" by Randal E. Bryant, or at online courses like
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-e ... ring-2011/
or
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-e ... ring-2005/
like for instance when someone types a sentence the computer goes through its binary phase and eventually winds up with what we see as normal text. Its the same for commands. I want to understand that process?
_________________
Keniichi
21 May 2012, 12:27 am
My impression is that you should first look at an introductory book / class about how computers work. Maybe take a look at a book like
"Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective" by Randal E. Bryant, or at online courses like
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-e ... ring-2011/
or
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-e ... ring-2005/
like for instance when someone types a sentence the computer goes through its binary phase and eventually winds up with what we see as normal text. Its the same for commands. I want to understand that process?
There are two ways you can do that. Way 1. Look at the low level code for text processing written in machine language or virtual machine language. Not recommended. Inferring the logic from the code can be difficult and frustrating. Way 2. Look at a detailed algorithm for text processing. This will give you logic at the character level plus an logical operations that are done.
ruveyn
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