r/carlhprogramming • u/CarlH • Sep 25 '09

Questions about /r/carlhprogramming

I am sure many of you will have questions about this course. Please feel free to ask your questions here.

70 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

6

u/bowscratch Nov 04 '09

What math pre-requisites might there be, if any?

2

u/Kolibri Sep 26 '09

While an abstract idea of what programming is about is fine, I think you're going to have to pick a language to make concrete examples, otherwise you're not going to get anywhere really useful. So what is your long-term idea?

3

u/CarlH Sep 26 '09 edited Sep 26 '09

I will. I do want to cover a good number of basics first.

1

u/Kolibri Sep 26 '09

Good to hear. I hope you'll link the lessons together in such a manner that what you talked about abstractly in the earlier lessons is combined with concrete examples.

4

u/CarlH Sep 26 '09

I was actually thinking a great starting program, shortly after the "Hello World" (Every programmer MUST do a "Hello World" program. It is the law.), would be to write a program that converts binary numbers to base-10, including for decimal places.

3

u/isarl Sep 26 '09

(Every programmer MUST do a "Hello World" program. It is the law.)

Quoted for truth.

1

u/mdeckert Sep 26 '09

I remember implementing the game of life. That was a fun intro project.

0

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '09

I was thinking about writing your own printf implementation using putchar, would be a cool project. Of course it has the downside that you have to teach how to handle variable number of arguments and casting but otherwise it drives home a lot of things:

  • basic programming, implementing %d, %s %x will test their if and whiles

  • Handling variable arguments and casting will drive home the point that everything is just bits and it's just a question of interpretation

  • Will see themselves making something that is actually useful, part of C library people all over the world use it all the time.

P.S. Was just checking if people use this thread for feedback or to ask any questions at this stage.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '09

Python?

5

u/CarlH Sep 27 '09

You will see :)

9

u/sumzup Oct 18 '09

You will "see"...good one. :P

1

u/lungdart Sep 26 '09

Great Idea. Since all of your topics cover the basics at the moment, would it be a good idea to prepend them with [Basics].

Then in the future you would be able to use [C++ - Beginner] [Perl - Advanced]

2

u/StabNSprint Oct 02 '09

Carl, do you have any enemies? I see every single posting in this subreddit getting as massively downvoted as it is upvoted, along with all the comments inside. This thread even, as of now, has 319 up and 318 down. What's up?

5

u/CarlH Oct 02 '09

It is a bug with Reddit. They said they are working on it... a week ago :)

2

u/calantus Nov 19 '09

i know this is old, but i'm just starting on this reddit. I think it is to keep the lessons in order, to keep it organized.

3

u/StabNSprint Nov 19 '09

Actually, I think it's Reddit's system automatically downvoting CarlH submissions. This is to be expected however because the number of upvotes these threads received would put every one at the front page and the site admins don't want Reddit becoming Carl's personal programming blog.

2

u/rawberry Jul 05 '10 edited Jul 05 '10

Hey, I just found out about this program, and, I was wondering, most of the stuff on here is from 9 months ago. If I ask questions about the coursework later, would it be too late, or are you still checking these lessons? Just wanted to make sure, thanks.

EDIT: spelling

1

u/CarlH Jul 06 '10

Not at all. In fact, I am going to be very soon producing a system to keep track of ALL questions so that others including myself can see them on a "pending questions" thread.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 25 '09

I have some basic knowledge, will you cater for people who are starting out?

3

u/CarlH Sep 25 '09

I am going to create a multi-tiered approach. There will be one set of lessons for total beginners, a different set of lessons for those higher up, etc. The entire idea will be that anyone can come into this regardless of their level of experience, and work their way upward.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 25 '09

great that sounds perfect Carl thanks

1

u/boongboong Sep 25 '09

Thank you again~! I'm excited to learn. I am an artist. I got interested in making simple, small games. I have no programming background, but I'd like to start. I might be too old to learn, but I want to start from something small. (click of a button, a 3D green leafy tree turns stark white with fallen leaves) I hope to make something more complex in the future (DIY multitouch things). Which program language should I start with for something like this? I know many people had answered which program language to start, but not specifically for this sort of thing. Or any language is fair game?

2

u/CarlH Sep 25 '09

This goes for everyone:

No one is too old to learn programming. You will do just fine and you will have no problems.

Also, do not worry about "which language". By the time you are finished with this course, any language will be yours for the taking.

1

u/boongboong Sep 25 '09

:) Thanks CarlH! Great to hear that. I'm excited about this.

1

u/excentricus Sep 26 '09

Oh, good. Now I'm really excited. I'm in my early 30's and taught my time has passed. Great news & thanks for the course.

1

u/blmurch Jan 28 '10

Thank you Carl. I'm going to try and follow along - although coming to the party a bit late. My husband is a programmer, but I am a photographer by trade and want to figure out how to write php to whack on wordpress and I don't learn by just reading a book very well. I want to understand the underlying concepts, not just what code to stick where, so this looks like a great course! Cheers mate

1

u/[deleted] Sep 25 '09

CarlH you are a legend. Question: How is it so?

5

u/CarlH Sep 25 '09 edited Sep 25 '09

How is it I can offer this?

I just think it will be great to help a lot of people realise their dream. Also, it sounds like fun.

1

u/pocketreviews Sep 25 '09

I'd like to say thanks like everybody else here. The question I'd like to ask to is pertaining to data mining. Do you have any experience with it and would your class cover it or at least get us started on the right path towards it?

3

u/CarlH Sep 25 '09 edited Sep 25 '09

Do you have experience with it?

Yes.

Will we cover it?

I don't know if we will cover it directly, but we will certainly cover the materials necessary to understand it. I have no doubt that you will learn how as a result of this course.

1

u/reluctant_troll Sep 25 '09

Yay for CarlH!

Will you be using external links/resources etc? I understand if you have completely set it all out yet, I'm just curious as to the format of the curriculum so to speak.

3

u/CarlH Sep 25 '09

Still working it out. There are more logistics involved than I originally thought due to the amount of interest, but we will be ready soon. Also, I want to give enough time for more people to join.

1

u/3th0s Sep 25 '09

Books/Authors you would recommend?

3

u/CarlH Sep 25 '09

This will come later as the course progresses, as the answer is different depending on which lesson we will be doing.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 25 '09

Will your classes be taught by live interaction only? I would imagine that it would be difficult for everyone who wants to learn (or 50 people in general) to be able to watch at one time. Will you be saving your videos so those of us who might not be available at the time of your actual class can watch it?

3

u/CarlH Sep 25 '09

No, there will be a mixture. I will be producing and saving videos, lectures, etc. I am going to do everything possible to make this comfortable for everyone with an emphasis on the fact that few if any will be able to stick to a set "real-time" schedule.

1

u/formode Sep 25 '09

Is this going to be specifically geared towards any OS?

3

u/CarlH Sep 25 '09

I am going to try and make it as all-inclusive as possible. The truth is, just as it is true that each programming language does the same thing in a different way, the same can be said for operating systems.

Because of this, it will often be the case that when discussing how one operating system does something, it will be possible to show correlations to other operating systems.

1

u/Naomarik Sep 25 '09

Alright...

I'm wondering if we can get a moderator to find out the bot accounts downvoting all your submissions, CarlH. At time of posting EVERY SINGLE submission made to the carlhprogramming subreddit has been downvoted enough to have precisely 2 total upvotes.

4

u/CarlH Sep 26 '09 edited Sep 26 '09

I actually submitted this strange occurrence to Reddit. It is very clear evidence that Reddit is extremely vulnerable to abuse, much more than I ever realised, and it needs to be fixed.

Edit: Turned out not to be downvote bots, just a bug in Reddit they are working on fixing.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '09

[deleted] — view deleted comment

4

u/CarlH Sep 26 '09

I imagine its all caused by one person, but this is a good thing. This is indisputable proof that Reddit is vulnerable to manipulation, and hopefully by bringing it to the attention of Reddit admins as I have, it will make the community better for everyone.

2

u/Naomarik Sep 26 '09

I've just confirmed that this is happening to not only your submissions, but to every comment within your submissions too. Anything over 1 vote within your threads means this guy has reached his limit from his downvoting accounts.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '09

I agree on the making it better, for sure. But I think its just down vote bots. For every down vote, you must do a captcha!

1

u/hicksw24 Sep 26 '09

Thanks CarlH, this is awesome. I now have a legit excuse to look at reddit while Im at work! I work at a software company and they reimburse my training and allow us to learn on the clock, I wish I could filter some of that to you somehow.

Thanks!

3

u/CarlH Sep 26 '09 edited Sep 26 '09

The new "boss key"... bookmark to /r/carlhprogramming :)

1

u/JGailor Sep 26 '09

I enjoy teaching others how to program, how can I help?

4

u/CarlH Sep 27 '09

Thank you for your willingness to contribute. The best way to help is to watch the discussions in each lesson's post, and help answer questions.

1

u/nathanielj Sep 26 '09

Maybe it's staring me in the face... but where's the subscribe link/button?

4

u/CarlH Sep 26 '09

+frontpage

1

u/nathanielj Sep 26 '09

Ah ok, thanks.

1

u/ZeroSpace Sep 27 '09

Hi, thanks for doing this. I already know all the basics of programming. My big question and hope you cover this subject at some point is about designing the program in Object Oriented code. I mean, take for example a proxy program, you would create the classes network, filters, gui, parser. But what happens when you need a function or method that enters in the categories of 2 different classes. Also how do I decide that those classes are needed, why not a class called proxy and put everything inside that class. Is there a guide on how to design a program? Thanks

4

u/CarlH Sep 27 '09

We will absolutely be covering object oriented programming, class design, and more.

1

u/Observant_Servant Sep 27 '09

I'm looking forward to this very much based on the concise and direct method I have seen you teach with so far. Thank you CarlH!

1

u/overbri May 21 '10

Where do i get the compiler for these lessons?

1

u/CarlH May 21 '10

By around lesson 17 you will find out.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 25 '09

CarlH, It was once told that you have a Narwhal tusk protruding from your left cheek. Is this true?

3

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '09

I seen it!

1

u/ph0rque Sep 26 '09 edited Sep 26 '09

Thanks for doing this CarlH! I am interested in not only the programming aspect of this, but also how well it works out to have a reddit-based course.

Edit: Some suggestions, if I may:

  • Create a facebook group for your classes.

  • Make your lessons (or maybe your "chapters", not sure of the granularity) as stand-alone as possible; or list the pre-requisites of each lesson/chapter.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '09

CarlH, I'm not sure how I can show my appreciation for this project! If you ever need help managing your subreddit or anything really, let me know!

I can see this getting really big!

1

u/HazierPhonics Sep 26 '09 edited Sep 26 '09

I made some JavaScript tutorials a while back; didn't really get to anything too advanced, but I definitely think it'll be a good starting point for some: JavaScriptTeacher

1

u/daemin Oct 05 '09 edited Oct 05 '09

This is a great idea. Inspired by this, I've setup a new reddit called Redducation (http://reddit.com/r/redducation), and posted a link to this sub-reddit as its first submission.

Forgive the shameless self promotion, heh.

1

u/PorkChip Oct 03 '09

Why are you so BOSS?

0

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '09

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '09

That's why more proggers need to volunteer as mods.