[Noisebridge-discuss] Seeking info about Intro to C Programming class

Sat Jun 18 16:50:25 UTC 2011

ps. If you have the list of web-accessible tutorials in a handy
format, would you mind sending me a copy/link? The Kochan is beyond my
budget right now; the SFPL access to Safari has become so attenuated
that it is next to impossible to find first-rate texts there
anymore--at least when I've tried to find them.

Erik

On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 09:00, jim <jim at well.com> wrote:
>
>    There's a C programming class at Noisebridge in the Turing
> classroom on
> * Tuesdays from 6 to 7 PM (nominally, definitely starts at 6,
> usually goes later than 7)
> and on
> * Wednesdays from 5 to 6 (nominally, may start a little earlier,
> usually spills over 6 into the linux discussion group time).
>
>    This is a class, lecture format with Q and A at anytime.
>    The goal is to cover concepts such as basic compiler design
> and structure of executable programs etc. that are helpful but
> not ordinarily covered in introductory texts.
>    It is a complement to standard introductions to C. One of
> the best texts for beginners is Stephen Kochan's ANSI C
> programming. The K&R (ANSI version) is the horse's mouth, but
> may be too informationally dense for beginners. I have a list
> of web-accessible C tutorials and other info sources.
>
>    I think the class is starting its fourth week. We've pretty
> much finished introducing keywords (with examples). We've also
> introduced pointers and functions, but those two topics will be
> reviewed thoroughly in the next few sessions.
>    The current topic is flow control: we discussed branching
> last week and will introduce looping this coming week.
>    Then we'll spend a few sessions on expressions. Finally
> we'll explore some basic application development techniques
> such as making an app based on multiple source files, making
> custom datatypes (notably typedef struct), using preprocessor
> directives....
>    We'll review as we go, with special emphasis on comments
> and other maintenance aspects of coding.
>    The class will probably finish late July.
>
>    There's a plan to follow with a study group (not a class)
> for assembly language for linux (and other unix-type kernels).
>    This will be very basic, covering CPU design, mnemonic
> instructions, and unix system calls. The hope is to be able to
> write a small utility program that takes standard input, does
> something or another, writes to standard output, reports to
> standard error, and supports command-line options that permit
> reading from and writing to files.
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, 2011-06-17 at 07:51 -0700, Glen Jarvis wrote:
>> There's also an iPhone developer group that used to (and maybe still does) get together for helping each other with similar goals. I went a few times just to meet them. They're a great bunch of people and very helpful. They'll definitely help you get on the right track for learning objective-c and iPhone development.
>>
>> Find then on meetup.com. And they may still have noisebridge as their meeting location.
>>
>> Glen
>>
>> On Jun 16, 2011, at 10:37 PM, Erik Schneider <eriktrips at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Thanks all you wonderfully helpful people!
>> >
>> > I am learning C because I wanted also to learn Objective-C and
>> > eventually develop for OS X and iOS. That's a long ways off though--I
>> > am self-taught in programming and have not yet made the leap from
>> > simple command-line toys to GUI application programming. Also I know
>> > it is not necessarily necessary to learn C before Objective-C but I am
>> > a nuts-and-bolts kind of person and like to start at relatively low
>> > levels. Relatively. I know I could go lower still, but I have only so
>> > many lifetimes to live.
>> >
>> > I have the K&R and will probably go back to it soon. It was a bit
>> > terse for a relative newbie; it was also frustrating that all the
>> > examples in the first few chapters are for processing input but they
>> > do not teach you how to input input until much later, so I was not
>> > happy not being able to test my code. I could have looked ahead I
>> > suppose, but I have a thing for starting with Chapter One and
>> > following with Chapter Two, etc. unless I am reading poetry, in which
>> > case starting in the middle is always recommended.
>> >
>> > Thanks for the video links. I will check those out!
>> >
>> > Erik
>> >
>> > On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 19:19, ashish makani <ashish.makani at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> My suggestions :
>> >>
>> >> 1.If you like video lectures, here is a harvard course where all the video
>> >> lectures & assignments, are available online for free.
>> >> They are a bit long, but are pretty engaging , in both content & delivery,
>> >> IMHO.
>> >> http://cs50.tv/
>> >>
>> >> 2. If you are trying to learn programming , and don't care about the
>> >> language, MIT's introductory programming course 6.00 is also a great place
>> >> to start.
>> >> http://mit600.mit.edu/blog/course-info/
>> >> http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/video-lectures/
>> >>
>> >> All the Best,
>> >>
>> >> cheers
>> >> ashish
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 6:01 PM, Brian Morris <cymraegish at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> To me, the advantage of K&R is that it is small and can work / review
>> >>> through it quick.
>> >>> It is maybe hard to find newer books which go into relevant topics which
>> >>> are not huge and heavy.
>> >>>
>> >>> For me, C++ is an advanced language to work with, tools have been
>> >>> developed to make it easier to work with large projects, eg cmake and QT but
>> >>> not everybody uses and there are other choices. It was the first OO language
>> >>> and IMHO compromise between C and the higher level OO languages such as Java
>> >>> and Python, which have become standard for learning OOP.  Also most other
>> >>> languages have OO extensions.
>> >>>
>> >>> C is close to the metal as they say and that may be kind of interesting.
>> >>> Also fast. Depending on your interests you could find possibly an
>> >>> application oriented book to go along with K&R. In general many langs have a
>> >>> foreign function interface (FFI) for speed or hardware interface which
>> >>> people mostly use C functions. So you can look there at small functions that
>> >>> do specific things. To give you some motivating or interesting examples.
>> >>>
>> >>> What is your motivation for learning C ? Mine was originally for numerical
>> >>> programming (because required for a job), then later as a bridge to C++
>> >>> (which I found disappointing, wish I had gone with Python).
>> >>>
>> >>> One approach to learning a new programming language which may work for you
>> >>> is to translate something. For instance take a Python function that is
>> >>> central to your/ some code and rewrite it in C, simply plug it in and see if
>> >>> it works, and see if it is any faster. I don't know how common this is in
>> >>> Python (being new to it) but it is pretty ubiquitous in Perl (which can have
>> >>> slow downs pretty bad).
>> >>>
>> >>> On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Erik Schneider <eriktrips at gmail.com>
>> >>> wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Hi I'm kind of new but not entirely but enough so that I don't know if
>> >>>> this is the right place to ask but since they do not have a list of
>> >>>> their own that I can find:
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Is anyone from the Intro to C Programming class reading who could
>> >>>> answer questions like could I start attending next week?
>> >>>> And if yes:
>> >>>> Is the class using a text or texts, and if so what is/are the text(s)?
>> >>>> And is there a particular thing the class is working on for next week?
>> >>>>
>> >>>> If you can answer my questions but it would be more polite to email me
>> >>>> the info than to use this list, then:
>> >>>> eriktrips at gmail.com
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Thanks!
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Erik JM Schneider
>> >>>> _______________________________________________
>> >>>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> >>>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> >>>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> >>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> >>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Erik JM Schneider, PhD
>> > blog.eriktrips.com
>> > eriktrips at gmail.com
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>> _______________________________________________
>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>
>
>
>

-- 
Erik JM Schneider, PhD
blog.eriktrips.com
eriktrips at gmail.com