Learning Programming: Efforts are desperate but with a focus on C. I’ve been reading through K&R and I’m at arrays and pointers. When I’m confused on need help I pick up either Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware for its treatment of bit-wise operations and its general lucidity or C Primer Plus which assumes you are five and takes thirty pages to do what K&R does in a paragraph but if you’re stuck it’s better to scan those thirty pages for the sticking point and where they make it explicit. My first course CS is Programming C next semester and I intend to only struggle with topics that are truly complex rather than get hung up on misconceptions. Additionally I’ve used Learn Python the Hard Way, and the SICP lectures when I feel I’ve mastered what something means in C and want to learn it more generally.
Calculus: My first attempt was in high school. A combination of repeated illness, a lack of familial resources that thrust me into the workforce while in school, and a poor teacher made my first exposure to the subject dull, difficult and demonic. I start a three semester block next month and prelearning the topic through Khan Academy is turning out the be a grand experiment with great results.
Reading Books: I just (two hours ago) finished Prachett’s Feet of Clay, I’m going through GEB, and I have Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals, The Drunkard’s Walk, and The Happiness Hypothesis waiting for me via audiobook.
Learning Programming: Efforts are desperate but with a focus on C. I’ve been reading through K&R and I’m at arrays and pointers. When I’m confused on need help I pick up either Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware for its treatment of bit-wise operations and its general lucidity or C Primer Plus which assumes you are five and takes thirty pages to do what K&R does in a paragraph but if you’re stuck it’s better to scan those thirty pages for the sticking point and where they make it explicit. My first course CS is Programming C next semester and I intend to only struggle with topics that are truly complex rather than get hung up on misconceptions. Additionally I’ve used Learn Python the Hard Way, and the SICP lectures when I feel I’ve mastered what something means in C and want to learn it more generally.
Calculus: My first attempt was in high school. A combination of repeated illness, a lack of familial resources that thrust me into the workforce while in school, and a poor teacher made my first exposure to the subject dull, difficult and demonic. I start a three semester block next month and prelearning the topic through Khan Academy is turning out the be a grand experiment with great results.
Reading Books: I just (two hours ago) finished Prachett’s Feet of Clay, I’m going through GEB, and I have Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals, The Drunkard’s Walk, and The Happiness Hypothesis waiting for me via audiobook.
track progress on these and other goals here: https://www.beeminder.com/karmakaiser