----------------------------------- adv1k Sun Jun 21, 2009 10:26 pm Hello & some questions ----------------------------------- alright so, in the fall i will be attending UBC for a comp sci major, ive always been really interested in computers(built my own as a kid), problem solving, mathematics, and just acquiring knowledge in general, but i have a very minimal background in actual programming as my high school had absolutley no CS related electives. Once as a kid i did a hello world tutorial in c or c++ or something but that was half a decade ago and i haven't done much regarding any language since than. and that is one of the reasons why i have stumbled upon the wonderful community that is CompSci.ca, im wondering what language/languages should i dedicate myself to learning this summer, would a basic understanding of C be most useful, or should i run over ruby or turing, i just want to have some idea of what im doing when i get to uni in the fall. the program im in offers a few introductory type courses: CPSC 101 (4) Connecting with Computer Science Fundamentals of computer science and their connections with the arts, psychology, and biology. Historical, cultural, and gender perspectives of important contributions to the field will be discussed. No prior computing background required. so maybe ill be ok without a deep knowledge of a basic language, but its still something im constantly worrying about and would like to come to some conclusion on so i can find some books to start reading. on top of that ( just in case this wasn't enough of a annoyance already :) ) Im going to be purchasing a MPB or a Thinkpad T series in about a month and have been spending alot of time thinking about which operating systems to include on what i choose, Im leaning pretty hard towards the macbook pro with a os x and linux combination, but would it be smarter to include XP? thanks alot guys and i promise i used the search function for about an hour before i typed this up and dint find an answer that was closely enough tailored to my situation. I really cant thank you enough in advance and im super excited to start posting here all throughout the journey that is post secondary education. ----------------------------------- wtd Sun Jun 21, 2009 10:34 pm RE:Hello & some questions ----------------------------------- [url=http://www.htdp.org/]How to Design Programs ----------------------------------- saltpro15 Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:44 am RE:Hello & some questions ----------------------------------- Welcome! :D I would recommend an OS X/Linux combination for your laptop. Can't really help you with the rest, looks like wtd covered it though. Great Introduction to C++ that covers everything http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ and learning Graphics with SDL, which will later extend to OpenGL http://lazyfoo.net/SDL_tutorials/index.php Hope these help ----------------------------------- wtd Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:52 pm RE:Hello & some questions ----------------------------------- Don't try to learn C++ first. ----------------------------------- DemonWasp Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:50 pm RE:Hello & some questions ----------------------------------- I second what wtd says: Don't try to learn C++ first. Or ever. Start with Python, probably. It's a simple, clear language that abstracts away a lot of the machine-level complexity and the issues that's caused in C++ and similar languages. You'll be able to learn the real basics without the language swatting your hand away from the cookie jar over silly syntax issues or your executable terminating with the cryptic error message "segfault; core dumped". Eventually, you will get dragged into C but there's a time and place for that, and it's after you've had an introductory course in hardware design (probably a 200-level CS course). ----------------------------------- adv1k Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:06 pm RE:Hello & some questions ----------------------------------- alright cool! thanks for all the input guys, much appreciated. and keep it coming to anyone else who sees this thread, even if its advice on topics i dint ask about, im listening.