Computer Science Canada

I need an Online Tutor/Mentor !

Author:  Brainiacwitdatgat [ Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:38 pm ]
Post subject:  I need an Online Tutor/Mentor !

Hello everyone,

I've taken great interest in Comp Sci in the last few months, and therefore I've been teaching myself using any source or online lectures to better my understanding and knowledge. I found that there are certain situations and problems that require different methods that I do not acquire yet, hence the need for a tutor or someone willing to help. I'm planning on furthering my education in this field by enrolling myself in university in the near future. So far I have been watching MIT open-course lectures, I'm familiar with very basic of Python, VB, freeBASIC. Also, I've been reading Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science John M. Zelle, Ph.D. I understand that most people are busy (i.e. Work,family...), What I'm really asking for is a place to go and ask question's if I get stuck with one of my assignments. I'm also open to constructive criticism, advice or a plain slap on the head telling me what to do Smile...

Greatly Appreciated.

Contact via email: Money_afg@hotmail.com

Author:  Superskull85 [ Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:06 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:I need an Online Tutor/Mentor !

Posting your questions here might be better than having a single tutor. There are a lot of current university students (a lot from Waterloo, but there are some from other universities as well) as well as some professional computer experts and current professors teaching computer science (or similar fields).

A group of people might more useful than one person as that one person may not have the fastest and/or and easiest solutions to any one question.

Of course everyone has their own needs, and may find it better if only one person helped them as opposed to a group of people. Whatever suits you best. I was just sharing my thoughts about the CompSci.ca community. Smile

Author:  jbking [ Mon Jan 25, 2010 12:03 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I need an Online Tutor/Mentor !

StackOverflow is a site with lots of programming questions and answers aside from here.

Course if you want a million dollar problem, you could look at the "P vs NP" as one example that requires some Computer Science skills but that is far from easy to solve.

Author:  wtd [ Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:56 am ]
Post subject:  RE:I need an Online Tutor/Mentor !

FreeBASIC, VB, Python... it's all basically procedural programming.

Do some functional programming.

At the very least, know that one of the most important skills you can develop is knowing how to organize your code.

Author:  Brainiacwitdatgat [ Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I need an Online Tutor/Mentor !

I'm pretty confident in teaching myself, well I think so anyways. Maybe the real question I should be asking is where should beginners start ? For example should I start with learning a language (C/C++) ? Are there any specific book's I should start reading ?. I apologize if I sound a little lost, Because honestly I am. I'm having a difficult time trying to grasp where to start in all this mass information on this topic. If someone can point me to the right direction or at least set me up with step one, Then I'd take it from there. At the moment I'm all over the place just studying anything (specifically on Comp Sci though).

Thanks for the patience though guys Wink

Author:  wtd [ Mon Jan 25, 2010 3:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I need an Online Tutor/Mentor !

Brainiacwitdatgat @ Mon Jan 25, 2010 3:37 pm wrote:
I'm pretty confident in teaching myself, well I think so anyways. Maybe the real question I should be asking is where should beginners start ? For example should I start with learning a language (C/C++) ?


I'm going to be very clear on this. Beginners should NEVER start with C or C++.

I would pick a language with a decent interactive interpreter environment to allow you to easily try out small amounts of code without writing boilerplate.

A short list of candidates on that point:

  • Scheme
  • O'Caml
  • Ruby
  • Python

Author:  Brainiacwitdatgat [ Mon Jan 25, 2010 3:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I need an Online Tutor/Mentor !

Cool ! Thanks for the advice 'wtd' I'll start with basic functional programming and Python, Also, People have been referring me to start with Python and considering that you also brought it up.

Keep them coming, loving the feedback Smile


: