10 Reasons Why People Initially Suck at Programming

10 Reasons Why People Initially Suck at Programming | Talk Binary.

I thinking of making this the first week’s reading in my next Java class! Every point is right on.

Seven Languages in Seven Weeks

Summer reading?

You should learn a programming language every year, as recommended by The Pragmatic Programmer. But if one per year is good, how about Seven Languages in Seven Weeks? In this book you’ll get a hands-on tour of Clojure, Haskell, Io, Prolog, Scala, Erlang, and Ruby. Whether or not your favorite language is on that list, you’ll broaden your perspective of programming by examining these languages side-by-side. You’ll learn something new from each, and best of all, you’ll learn how to learn a language quickly.

via The Pragmatic Bookshelf | Seven Languages in Seven Weeks.

A summer program limited to students at institutions without a higher degree (good fit for MDC)

DePauw University: REU -> Home.

“DePauw University is hosting a research experience for undergraduate students (REU) during the summer of 2011.This program is open to students at colleges and universities that do not have graduate programs in computer science.This allows students to do research work who might otherwise not have the opportunity.If you teach at such an institution, please encourage your students to consider our program.

 

This year, we have projects on persuasive technologies, developing an IDE for a functional programming language, and parallel processing (further details can be found at the link below).  The program runs from June 1st to August 5th.  Applications are due on March 15th.

 

Further details about the program and an electronic application form can be found at our website”

Google’s Python Class

Googles Python Class – Googles Python Class – Google Code

“..a free class for people with a little bit of programming experience who want to learn Python. The class includes written materials, lecture videos, and lots of code exercises to practice Python coding.”

via ??

The Great Newline Schism

The Great Newline Schism “Did you ever wonder what was at the end of your lines? As a programmer, I knew there were end of line characters, but I honestly never thought much about them. They just … worked. But newlines aren’t a universally accepted standard; they are different depending who you ask, and what platform they happen to be computing on:”

An excellent short article about newline confusion — all new programmers should read it.

Short, clear comments about code quality

WTF Code “Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live. Martin Golding” and a few other bits of pithy wisdom about coding.

Cisco Turns Routers Into Linux Application Servers

InternetNews Realtime IT News – Cisco Turns Routers Into Linux Application Servers
“Cisco NASDAQ: CSCO is now opening its Integrated Services Router ISR and Cisco Wide Area Application Services WAAS platforms to become Linux-based application server platforms. The move could have wide-ranging implications, as Ciscos gear has millions of deployments that now can be leveraged to serve applications directly.” (via Slashdot)

Computer Programming Grading Rubric

Computer Programming Grading Rubric, CECS Grading These guidelines are an excellent self-check to see if your programs are professional, amateur or unacceptable. It clearly identifies important quality characteristics (specifications, readability, reusablity, documentation, delivery and efficiency) and clearly describes what is expected.

What Every Computer Scientist Should Know About Floating-Point Arithmetic

What Every Computer Scientist Should Know About Floating-Point Arithmetic
“This paper presents a tutorial on those aspects of floating-point that have a direct impact on designers of computer systems. It begins with background on floating-point representation and rounding error, continues with a discussion of the IEEE floating-point standard, and concludes with numerous examples of how computer builders can better support floating-point.” This article explains, in detail, the appropriate ways to handle floating point arithmetic. It may be a little too technical for a beginning programmer but it certainly exposes the complexity of the issue. I recommend bookmarking it for future use. (via dzone)

Google Testing Blog

Google Testing Blog
“From unit testing to performance testing and beyond, the testing umbrella is vast, and hopefully this blog will be the start of a great conversation about these important issues. Whether youre already deeply immersed in the world of testing or just starting to get your feet wet, we hope that this blog will help spread our enthusiasm about testing and help you to write better code.” I love their graphic!