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I've been programming professionally in C, and only C, for around 10 years in a variety of roles.
As would be normal to expect, I understand the idioms of the language fairly well and beyond that also some of the design nuances - which APIs to make public, who calls what, who does what, what is supposed to reentrant and so on. I grew up reading 'Writing Solid Code', it's early C edition, not the one based on C++.
However, I've never ever programmed in an OO language. Now, I want to migrate to writing applications for iPhone (maybe android), so want to learn to use Objective-C and use it with a degree of competence fitting a professional programmer.
How do I wrap my head around the OO stuff? What would be your smallest reading list suggestion to me.
Is there a book that carries some sort of relatively real world example OO design Objective-C?
Besides, the reading what source code would you recommend me to go through.
TIA
Even though the book I am about to recommend you is not specifically for Objective-C (it goes through all concepts of OOP without diving into any specific language) it is probably the best book I've read yet on the subject for a beginner needing an introduction to the subject, it helped me a lot!
The book is:
The Object-Oriented Thought Process
I like this book because it assumes absolutely no knowledge of OOP whatsoever, but it is not dull in wasting time with basic programming concepts. It eases you from the procedural paradigm and then to the OO paradigm. If the author starts to use technical terms he is sure to explain them clearly first. The language is easy to follow and the book is most importantly not boring to read, it does not make use of heavy academic language.
The book is also good to give you some examples along the way to make explanations more clear to understand.
Note that the book I'm suggesting here was published (2nd edition) in 1991.
Object Oriented Programming: An Evolutionary Approach by Brad Cox, the creator of Objective-C, is the book he wrote to introduce his language to the world, and that was a world unfamiliar with the very idea of object-oriented programming. So the book goes very gently and introduces all the basic ideas.
Brad Cox had some ideas about how Objective-C was going to deliver really powerful re-use of components, but things haven't really gone the way he predicted. Still he was a smart guy and I'd recommend his book if you can get hold of it.
For completeness I'll second tuğrul's pointer to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7571/cocoa-and-objective-c-resources, which has all the modern books listed.
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My 11 year old kid brother wants to learn to program games. He has never programmed but would like to learn programming. His interest lies with games and game programming and he understands that it can be difficult but he wants to do that. So, obviously, I turned to SO folks to know what you feel on how he should go about it. Remember, please suggest on
Areas that beginners can choose,
how to begin in that area,
what to read in the beginning,
initial languages in the beginning etc.
Once the beginning part is taken care of, you may also suggest the intermediate and advanced stuff but this question is about very beginning level. If there are areas like Web games Vs. console games Vs generic computer games, then please advice on the areas. As I said he has never programmed, he might want to try all the areas and choose the one he likes the best. I hope this is not too much to ask for someone who is in this field but if this question is huge, please advice on how to break it into multiple questions. ~Thanks.
I started my programming career writing games when I was 15 and it was a lot of fun (even though I wrestled with C++ for 3 years just because "that's what's used for writing games"). My two cents:
Start with a programming language that is easy to use (NOT C or C++)
Get a beginners book for that programming language (not directed at games)
Decide on some API or environment that provides what's needed for writing games. I started out by doing snake, space invaders etc in the console, but any 2D-environment will do (stay way from 3D for as long as you can; there are much more important things to learn first). SDL/GLUT for OpenGL has bindings in almost any language. Pygame for Python looks promising too. Using HTML5's canvas-element, you could even write the programs in the browser using JavaScript. Im not sure what's best these days, but there you have some suggestions.
Find a community for inspiration and help when stuck. I used gamedev.net. Since we're on stackoverflow, gamedev.stackexchange.com should also be a natural choice :)
Start small. Very small. I mean really tiny. Then take small steps to new challenges. Please don't write an MMORPG.
The game design and graphics are fun, but focus on the programming (for now at least). When you've written a simple game, learn how to do the same thing better.
Set a goal. Imagine the game that you'd want to make. Don't try to make that one immediately, but make sure that each new thing you learn or make takes you one step closer. Don't learn what you don't need so to speak (there's simply too much too learn).
I wish you and your brother the best of luck, I never regret going down the path he's about to take!
For a beginning game developing enthousiast I think you can't go wrong with the combination Python + Pygame. Python is a great, elegant (and easy to learn) all-round language and lots of great tutorials are available for Pygame which explain the basics of (mostly) 2D game programming.
There's this post on Gamedev stackexchange where the poster is in literally the same position.
Quoting my answer from there:
I'm also 15, so I guess that could help? :P
I've recently started learning Python
(been doing C++ for a year or so), and
I'm finding it much easier to learn
than C++. There's a lot less pitfalls,
and you need little code to get
something on the screen - what I find
makes you want to continue.
And there's wrappers like Pygame and
Pyglet over SDL/OpenGL for the
graphics side.
And before he starts making simple
games, I would advise learning a
language for at least a couple of
months. (Of course, text based games
like guess the number and hangman are
good exercises during this time)
And for what to read; I can advise Invent With Python. It goes from learning the language in a very gamedev way - which is a good step to making sure he stays interested; I doubt many kids his age are going to want to learn all about variables and loops, moreso being able to make a game - all the way to seamlessly introducting PyGame and graphics.
It could take some time until he can program a proper game...
But as I see it, he should start with Java as it is easy to learn and good for basic games.
Starting out he wouldn't be able to do much more than a guessing game, but he shouldn't get frustrated, this will take time.
I think you should buy him a book on java, and start from the basics.
You would get many different answers on this one as it is mostly personal opinion...
Teach him the basics of programming: variables, declarations, properties, methods, arguments, classes, arrays, loops. I suggest C# as a starting language, it seems simpler than C or C++ to start with, in my opinion. Once he understands those concepts it shouldn't be extremely hard for him to jump in and follow some XNA tutorials on a simple game like pong or something.
Game Development, part of the Stack Exchange, is a great resource for these types of things. It's loaded with posts like this one.
How about instead of forcing him to learn a language first, get him involved in using a framework where he can readily see results to maintain an interest. Something along the lines of RPGMaker could be sufficient.
My reasoning for this would be that, yes, you want him to learn the basics of making games and introduce programming as well, but you don't want to burn him out on the formalities of a language.
If he is 14, then he is of high school age (assuming US based...), and there is a good chance that there are programming courses available to him there. Let him whet his teeth on those to grind out the difficulties of introducing programming, and then once he is interested in expanding beyond the bounds of the toolset introduce him to the answers posted by the other users.
My two cents...I've seen kids give up on programming before because they jumped right into game making and quickly got frustrated...
In the beginning, make sure you keep it fun. Try mocking old games like 1-stage of contra or air hockey. And use a programming language with easy implementation of timer. Because timers, I think are the easiest way to show some visible effects. I would recommend visual basic or objective-c (I know many people won't agree, BUT it is that damn easy with the power of Xcode). Thumbs up ! Have fun.
I agree with ChristopheD about Python and Pygame. When it comes to languages Python is great for beginners because it is very high level therefore so easier to understand and the syntax is clean and simple. And Pygame is a great library for learning game programming.
Eventually he'll want to move into C++, which as I understand is the go to language for game development. But Python and Pygame would be a better start, especially for an 11 year old.
A good series of easy to read online books are the following three:
http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html to learn Python
http://inventwithpython.com/ this site has two books, what to make games in plain Python and the other to make games using the Pygame library for Python. Once he gets through these three books he should be able to start making his own games in Python using Pygame and then eventually move on to more serious game development langauges/tools.
Write some simple scenarios for a game such as Wesnoth is maybe a good start.
Learning basis of programming is also important. A langage such as python is probably a good start.
The language is clear and easy to learn and teach.
And it is very extentable.
This is a -very basic- game source code (Butterfly adventure 1.0) made with javascript to start learn programming. Only basic codes (variable, if, switch, function, event, etc.) used.
It may be useful to start learning game development.
Play the game link
Source code link
Video tutorials (Only in Turkish) link
Screenshot
Have fun.
IMHO he should start learning C.
then switch to OpenGL later once he has the grip of basic C constructs.
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I am learning programming. I plan on learning C and Objective-C this summer. I bought the C for Dummies book but it is a complete waste of time. It's way too many pages! Are there any good books I should read? Or should I just learn C from websites? What would be the fastest way because I really want to learn it fast and start learning Objective-C too.
Thank you
Also, how long does it take to learn C? Until I move to Objective-C 2.0
There's no need to rush. Learn at your own pace and find your optimal way of learning.
If reading is your thing, then try to read some books and take it slowly.
If you find a concept you grasp, practice. If you find a concept that you don't quite get, experiment. Once you think you understand the concept, try re-reading the material to see if you understand it the second time.
I found out that I wasn't really good at learning though books -- I generally had to get the first kick-start with a structured lessons in a classroom. A semester course at a community college on Java was able to nudge in the direction of being able to begin effectively learning on my own. See if there are any programming courses offered in your school.
(Although at your age it may be a little bit difficult to find -- I didn't get any formal classes until community college -- my high school did not offer any programming courses.)
One of the things to be careful of is learning it the wrong way.
Rushing through material, or reading poorly written, inaccurate learning material can lead to a situation where you'll need to "un-learn" the concepts and re-learn it the right way.
In that respect, the K&R book (The C Programming Language by Kernighan and Ritchie) would be the "right way" of learning, but it's not a very approachable book. That isn't to say that it is the definitive book on C -- but even after programming in C for a couple years, I still try to take read it a bite-size at a time.
But then again, I can't really think of other "great" sources for learning C. My recommendation would be to take a look at K&R and work on a few pages at a time. Don't think about reading it like a regular book -- read one section, try it out. Do it little-by-little. Once again, don't rush. Work at your own speed.
And be sure to write code. Without seeing it working, it's going to be difficult to learn programming. And don't have huge expectations at first, as most of learning C at the beginning will involve programs that deal with only text.
Once you get a handle of things, try to write clean code that is readable by others -- that should be a motivation to write clean and clear code, and it will force you to think harder about what you're doing.
It's going to be a long adventure, so take it a step at a time. Good luck!
For learning C, I highly recommend Learn C on the Mac, by Dave Mark. Not only is it aimed at beginners, but it also teaches you a lot about the important fundamentals of programming and computer science (e.g. data structures, recursion, etc.). It's very accessible, well-written, and easy to read. Plus, I found the examples engaging and interesting to work with. After that, if you really want to solidify your foundations in C, I'd recommend trying to moving on to The C Programming Language. It's a challenging book, so take it slowly. If you find yourself having too much trouble with it, I'd say you can just skip to Objective-C, and then come back to The C Programming Language later, once you've gained more familiarity with programming in general.
A lot of people will probably recommend The C Programming Language (a.k.a. "K&R") as your first book to read on C. No doubt it is a very well-written C book (and it's short too—only around 200 pages), but I'd say it'd be a little intimidating as a 12-year-old's first exposure to C: it's pretty dense and hardcore. You can tell that it's definitely aimed at an older audience with a strong background in computers/engineering. But nevertheless, if you already know the basics of programming, reading K&R will give you invaluable insight and understanding of C. You should definitely read it at some point in your programming endeavors.
Anyways, for Objective-C, if there's only one book I could recommend, it would most definitely be Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X, by Aaron Hillegass. It's really not that long (~400 pages or so, although I'd reckon that a lot of that is due to the number of illustrations in the book), and you can get some pretty cool projects up and running in an afternoon. It's very clear and easy to read, the examples are practical and interesting to follow, but most importantly, it's got this right blend of not being too intimidating while still managing to provide you with solid information. Plus, it'll teach you more than just Objective-C: I found that I had learned some very useful design patterns, for example, by learning how some of the components of Cocoa worked.
When I look at the title of this question, I am guessing you are 12.
I started programming when I was 13 (I am now 14).
I found that learning depends on what kind of a learner you are!
I hate reading, I have the attention span of a moth and I learn best from videos. Therefor, I am a "visual learner". Try to find out what kind of "learner" you are, then do it that way. Remember, the easiest way is the fastest.
PS, here is a little tip. It may be frustrating (aseptically at our age). If you get frustrated, just put it down for like 10 minutes. Then come back and do research on what your learning. Programming WILL get very frustrating at times.
EDIT:
By the way, I like to learn through video :p
Stanford University posts online the lectures, class notes, and assignments for CS193P (an iPhone development class). If you don't know C or Objective-C at all, it might be tough, but I highly recommend this if you intend to do iPhone development.
I think I've read every Cocoa and Objective-C book out there, and most enjoyed Aaron Hillegass' Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X.
I would take a look at The C Programming Language (K&R C). It's much less than 1000 pages and I think you'll find it well worth your while. As htw said, books do serve a purpose in that they provide a thorough and structured approach. K&R C in particular will give you real insight directly from the creators of C.
That's not to say you shouldn't Google things, read open source code, write little practice programs, etc. It all helps. Just remember to be patient. There's a lot out there.
Checkout out http://www.cprogramming.com/ or and online K&R type book
Don't be impatient; take your time. Follow tutorials, dissect short snippets of code, you'll get the hang of the language. Most importantly, write code yourself and learn from your bugs/errors.And follow Stack Overflow ;)
I've been where you are. It wasn't fun. This is what saved me:
(Apparently new users aren't allowed to post hyperlinks, so google for "steve summit C", use either the first or the third link, and then click "introductory C programming class notes")
It's a C class by a guy named Steve Summit. Super easy to follow, much easier than K&R, imo.
Also, it's free, and there aren't any ads. I loved it. It's how I learned C. I hope it'll do the same for you.
There is nothing so educational as a piece of code you can run and tweak. Code examples in books can be really bland and not very applicable. The exception to this rule was the Perl Cookbook which is jammed packed with really useful little snippets for your perl programs.
The topics (or 'idioms') in it were so useful and so applicable across languages that some smart folks have taken to replicating them in different languages. Each has a varied level of completeness, but it's interesting to see how different languages do the same things.
Take a look here http://pleac.sourceforge.net/ for nuggets of programming wisdom that you can shake a stick at. At the very least its interesting to see how simple things written in one language require reams of code in another.
Were I starting to learn programming again I would probably pick something easy and forgiving, a dynamic language, like Python, Ruby etc. Once you get your head around the basics in one of these (flow control, data structures etc) it will make learning C/Objective-C so much easier. Also you'll find that you'll want to write once-off tools and scripts to help you in your Objective-C development that would be tedious and time consuming to write in C but are a matter of lines in a modern dynamic language. Never hurts to have another tool in your belt.
Good luck
Honestly, I learned Java as my first programming language (I discovered it in high school and decided programming was fun and it was what i wanted to do)
I just now picked up Obj-C in a few weeks, reading a little bit from some books, but not a whole book, and using the internet a lot if i can't figure out the syntax (format/grammar of how the program should be structured and written) for something etc.
How fast you can pick up a language depends on how much you understand the fundamentals of programming. You will only get better at it with time and practice.
If you can understand the fundamentals of programming in general then you should be able to apply it to any language, the hard part is learning and remembering the syntax of different languages. Like in Java, you don't have to do memory allocations, but in C, C++ and Obj-C you do. I've never written a C or C++ program, but now that I've learned and written some programs in Obj-C (i've been making iPhone stuff, it is fun) I'm sure I could pick up C and C++ like it's nothing.
You don't have to learn C first in order to learn Obj-C is what i'm trying to say. But it never hurts to know multiple languages.
It is all about your level of understanding how a program works, how to structure one. I love objective-C because it is Object Oriented like Java so it was easier for me to understand and learn quickly, just had to get used to some of the differences in syntax
(I'm also getting close to graduating from college now so I'm surrounded by programming stuff, from procedural languages like ada to object oriented like java, and knowing the nitty gritty behind the scenes stuff that makes a program work, so understanding and learning a new language has gotten a lot easier for me, you start seeing how they relate and don't relate and it is cool)
It is great that you are starting so young. I'm sure you'll pick up on this stuff real fast, and if it is something you really enjoy, it will be even easier.
Good Luck! and have fun! programming can be so frustrating... like, spending 3 hours debugging when you find out it was because you if statement used a grater than instead of grater than or equal too or something like that. but, once you are done with the program, it is so rewarding, and then you just want to make it better and better haha.
I dunno if this helped at all, I hope it did, somehow...
=)
the way i learned quickest was to watch short video tutorials.
If you really want to start with C, I would start by just reading the first three or so chapters of C for Dummies, just to get a feel for how the language works. After that, I recommend going through web tutorials. Good web tutorials will have short code that explain specific functions, and the like.
As a 13-year old, though, I recommend starting with PHP. It's a simpler language to learn than C, but it's based off of C, so it won't be hard to make the transition, whenever you do so.
Different people have different preferred ways of learning. You can see that in the variety of responses above.
So how do you like to learn? Do you like to sit by yourself with a book and a computer? Do you like to sit in a classroom and absorb learning? Do you prefer set exercises, or mini-projects?
When I learn new programming languages, I find it helps me if I have a small application or problem to work on. I prefer to have a problem to work on. If you have a little project of your own that you always wanted to do, use that. If not, as someone above suggested, join a robotics group. Set up a web page and write some programs to do stuff for that.
Look on the web for programming challenges. Google has a fun one every year.
If you want an idea, write a sukoku checking program. Then later, write a sudoku solver!
I like to use a variety of books, rather than just sticking to one or two of the ones suggested above. Find a book whose style you like. Try a few from the library until you find one or two that really click for you.
Personally, I like O'Reilly Publishing books for their chatty and readable style. I learnt C from Deitel, which is more of a classroom style textbook, but it has lots of examples and discussion points.
As you work through examples on your computer, you might wonder how things change if you tweak the code. I learn a lot by first running the example code suggested in a text, but then changing it to see what happens. If I get what I expect, it's a sign that my understanding is pretty good. If I get something unexpected, I try to figure out how I misunderstood what I did.
One last suggestion. Why not start with Python rather than C? I hear that a lot of schools are teaching Python to their kids. The reasons I suggest this are:
Python is pretty easy. You don't have to lay out memory, declare variables and such. No tedious bookkeeping.
Python gives you a nice growth path. You can start off just writing script style programs, using the built in types like lists and dictionaries. Then you progress to using new modules as you need them, and advance into object-oriented coding using classes. There's some functional programming stuff in there too, which you can start learning once you have the basic mechanics of the language under control.
I just love visiting new parts of python all the time.
You can get a lot done in python. It comes with a whole lot of built in modules to do almost anything you like - email, web, xml, graphics, gui, etc.
:)
When I was learning to program in C, I found that Practical C Programming was a good resource. It's a very approachable book with lots of examples.
The fastest way in my view is through learn through websites.
Set a goal of what you want to do and start a simple project
Instead of reading too many books theoretically,google what you want to know to get it instantly as you go through your project.This way you get PRACTICAL knowledge.
Watch online videos as well.Check out my question on VIDEOS here
Ask whatever you don't understand on stackoverflow. We're here to help :)
Follow these steps and I can assure you that you will be a great programmer soon!
Cheers!
With others, I highly recommend Kernighan and Ritchie—perhaps the best language book ever written. I'd also recommend that you slow down and enjoy yourself: don't be wide and shallow; start out narrow and deep. If you like programming, you will want to master the craft rather than be in a hurry. This essay by Peter Norvig explains how not to be in such a rush.
P.S. I started programming at age 12 with APL/360. I had a blast and have been doing it ever since—35 years and counting. Good luck and don't forget to have fun!
By far the best way (and usually the fastest) to learn programming is to find a good mentor. That's easier said than done. But I think you'd be surprised how many people would be willing to help you out. My advice would be just don't be afraid to ask.
If I were you I would find a local FIRST robotics team and see if you can hang out for some of the coding. Odds are you'll be working on a similar problem and will have some support from people who have a decent amount of experience. That's what I would have done, anyway.
I started learning to program in Basic in about 1981 when I was 10. Not many years later it was 6502 assembly to try to get more speed out of a 1 MHz Apple IIe clone.
Pascal was a revelation in 1988 - programming without line numbers.
Modula-2, C, Eiffel, Miranda, Haskel, and Prolog at university as well as scripting in any number of languages.
C++ professionally for about 6 years.
C#, then Java, Ruby, and now back to C# for the last 18 months.
Python somewhere along the way.
My advice, pick the language that is best suited to the problem you need to solve today.
The first problem you have is to learn the basics ie how to break down a problem and express it in a clear and concise manner. I suggest you choose something other than C. I recommend Python as the online documentation is excellent and the libraries are great and you will spend more time writing interesting code and less time trying to figure out why your code stopped due to a segmentation fault.
When you've got the basic concepts under your belt, try some assembly and learn what's going on under the hood. If nothing else, you'll learn how fast CPUs really are. C is a good step after that. I also suggest you try Java or C# before Objective-C.
As to how long before moving to Objective-C, it really depends on how talented you are. If you're really good, then once you've learnt your 3rd or 4th language you'll can be more productive than most coders within 6 weeks of starting a new language (although changing language families (ie imperative, functional, object oriented) takes longer). If you're no good then don't expect to get past the first. Hopefully you make it into the first category.
In addition to whatever books and websites you end up using, you might consider looking around your area for local support groups. Many areas have a Linux user group or a group for Java or Ruby programming. Professional programmers use these groups to help each other with their programming problems, but the groups are generally friendly to young people and beginners. Don't feel embarrassed or awkward because of your age and inexperience. Most people will admire your initiative and curiosity and be happy to help you when you run into problems.
Assuming you have some basic programming knowledge, Cocoa Dev Central have a series of articles that explain basic C then Objective-C, in a somewhat-less-than-1000-pages way..
Learn C for Cocoa, then Learn Objective-C
Shouldn't take even an hour to go through. The articles don't cover anything remotely advanced, but if you're learning ObjC to write OS X applications, the ObjC bit is basically trivial, it's Cocoa that is difficult to learn!
If you want to learn Objectif-C to create iPhone application, don't waste your time on C and learn Objectif-C now, then a book on iPhone programming. It will be more than 1000 pages but if you want to program in your life, you have to be used to read these types of book.
I created an online interactive C tutorial, you can start using it without installing an IDE.
http://www.learn-c.org
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Currently I am learning Smalltalk. I do this because I want to learn as much as I can in one week about a new programming language in order to improve my skills. Next week I will try something else.
So far I am able to read Smalltalk code but I have a very limited experience in writing. Can you recommend me any small size project that will help me understand better this language in a short time period?
Look into a book Squeak by Example, there are many examples to work on and practice. After a while you'll be very well prepared for some real, yet mini project.
I think you need only few days for a book with examples, so this is well spend time even if you have just one week.
I really, really like The Laser Game Tutorial
Tutorial: Squeak Development Example for Squeak 3.9
A.K.A. "The Laser Game Tutorial"
This excellent tutorial by Stephan Wessels will guide
you through installing Squeak, to creating a fun game using the Morphic graphics system, all > while observing solid object-oriented design principles
It is divided in 6 Sessions so 1 each day although I must say each session has taken me two hours or so.
Perfect for your objectives.
Anything not too trivial goes well. If you plan going on squeak, I'd propose you to write a card game, lottery or something else such.
It'd be more useful for you to find out some example code though. What prevents you from writing C in smalltalk?
Just do whatever you'd do in the language you already know. Taking a small task like writing a simple TODO list or even simple blog will undoubtedly improve your Smalltalk skills.
And remember to be easy on yourself. Expecting too much too soon can be intimidating.
If you would like to try something different, check out GNU Smalltalk Koans at http://skim.la/gnu_smalltalk_koans/, a set of tests to teach you Smalltalk in the tradition of Edgecase's Ruby Koans and Python Koans.
It promises to incrementally deepen your understanding of the language through tests.
You can have a look at Programming with robots.
I think the BotsInc material can be mastered in one week - although the time taken can vary. There is a Free book version for download available. And for small real world projects there is NXTalk announced for
early this year.
I really enjoyed Ted Bracht's Dolphin Smalltalk Tutorial:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dolphin-SmallTalk-Tutorial-Ted-Bracht/dp/0201737930
It takes you set-by-step through a GUI-based windows application. It's a pretty good tutorial.
Apart from the The Laser Game Tutorial. (that I recommended in my previous answer)
There is the "The Bowling Game"
Article: Discovering Better Code
Series
A.K.A. "The Bowling Example" A guided
tour through the mind of a
Smalltalker: How to build a business
model from the ground up, factoring it
along the way. If you don't understand
how Smalltalkers think or why they
think that way, you need to read this
series.
The really nice thing about this project is that it is like being the pair-programmer of a great developer.
The author Ron Jeffries is one of tho founders of Extreme Programming and a book author.
So it is a really good resource. I wish more tutorials where written like this.
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I'm a student in software engineering in Montreal. For the last 3 years I've had a few interships (once per year). The first two (in the same company) were mostly sysadmin jobs, but I did get to do a few Perl programs (mostly log file analysing and statistics generation).
My other intership was in the IT security field. I did a huge CGI Perl script to analyse time spent by users on the Internet.
The thing is, what I really want to do is programming, but my interships were mostly sysadmins jobs with some programming (due to my previous experience with Linux and UNIX).
I have another internship this winter, however I would like it to be in the OO programming field, and SW engineering.
I have a background in system administration but I know OO quite well, due to my college courses and projects (C++, Java, VB.NET, ASP.NET, but not C# unfortunately :( ).
My question is this : how can compete, in interviews, having no previous work experience in the OO field (though I build some projects in Java, Swing, etc., and am learning JSP right now), with other students with OO experience in previous interships?
What should be my "selling points" ? I consider myself quite a good programmer, but my previous interviews didn't turn out well due to my lack of experience. In fact, I got an intership last winter in system administration, since, well... that's my background!
Any tips on how to convince a potential employer that I am the perfect candidate despite my lack of professional experience (but lots of personal knowledge (and interest)) ?
Thank you,
Guillaume.
[EDIT]
Thank you all for your support!
I'm not out of school yet ; I am still a full-time student! My university program is a cooperative one : I have to get 3 internships to get my diploma.
Let my explain briefly my background : this winter will be my 4th internship.
My first two were while I studied in CÉGEP, Quebec's post-high-school but pre-university schools.
The first one was pratically given to me by CÉGEP : a employer called in, searching for someone knowledgeable in Linux system administration. I fitted the job perfectly since I was the only student who knew Linux outside of school. My interview wasn't even a real one, since all the details had been discussed between my school and the employer : I knew that I was hired even before doing the interview.
The second one was in the same company, one year later, since I liked my first one very much.
Then I arrived at my university, where every student is required to have 3 internships to get his (or her) diploma. Having no real experience in computer science interviews (since my first internships were "given" to me), I did a few screw-ups when doing interviews for OO jobs. I finally managed to get an interview for a security / sysadmin / Perl programming job at Bombardier Aerospace.
My internship went well, but now I want a real software development job. All the people I know had one last winter, which mean I am disadvantaged in terms of experience.
However, I DO have programming experience. All my internship required me to do a substancial amount of programming, especially in Perl. My Perl skills are quite good, and I got to develop some nice tools for both companies I worked in. I solved real problems not seen in school (like how to parse efficiently 5 GB log files while keeping memory usage as low as possible).
Obviously, I can easily get an internship this winter if I apply on jobs in the sysadmin domain or Linux world. There are a few of them available each year and I've got a lot of experience in the field, but as stated previously, I would like my next internship to be in SW development.
I am currently working on a personal project in Java, which is a small UML class editor. So I get to deal with the Swing framework, listeners, MVC architecture, etc. This is not as big as what is being done in the "real world", but it a fun project and I am having a lot of fun doing it, and if I can get it quite advance in the next month, I will probably put in on SourceForge. In the same time I am learning JSP.
As for OO open source project, this is something I should be looking into. I probably won't have time for it right now, one month away from my first interviews, being a full-time student, but I am not putting this option away.
Anyway, thank you!
no offense, but from your description it would appear that you're not really qualified for a 'real' OO programming job. Academic classes are a good introduction to a language but no substitute for solving real problems with fluctuating deadlines, finicky users, cholicky managers, et al ;-)
this leaves three options:
join an open-source project that uses OO and a language you know, and contribute to it significantly. This will provide an analogue of real programming experience [but not real job experience] and may help you get a programming job in another year or two
or, apply for an entry-level OO programming job and impress the heck out of the interviewer with your communication skills, contagious enthusiasm, eagerness to learn, commitment to the customer/user/whatever, etc. In other words, present and sell yourself truthfully but as the 'complete package' needing only the opportunity to explode.
Don't be discouraged if you get turned down a lot
don't apply for jobs you don't really want
expect to stay in the job for at least a year if not two or three, to really learn how to program in a non-academic environment
start your own business as a consultant, programmer, freelance, and/or develop products, and learn at your own pace. This is risky when out of school, less risky when in school, and if you happen on an unoccupied niche can be quite lucrative
Well, one place to get immediate, documented, experience is through open source projects. Join a project, or start a new one. Help with documentation on OSS projects (employers would love to see that). Help with writing unit tests, contribute patches, etc. And the sooner you get started, the better.
Open Source experience is good and experience and it shows a level of dedication to development and the language that you work in.
Good Luck
Aptitude and enthusiasm will get you a long way. If you can answer interview questions, work through programming problems, and you have personal projects that you are working on, lack of experience shouldn't hold you back too much.
Make sure you nail the questions, though. If you don't have experience, you've got to know your stuff cold to make up for it.
Be sure to emphasize side projects. If I interview someone who likes to spend their free time at home coding, they get lots of bonus points.
First, one thing I always follow that has never led me wrong is honesty. If you don't know something just say "I don't know". This is so important when it comes to programming interviews and very easy to follow.
Next, take the time to start and/or get involved with some open source projects. Saying that you worked on an open source project says alot. First, it shows that you can grok other people's code and have the resolve to work collaboratively with other people in the programming community. This goes a long way. I have come across employers that actually skip the screening process when they can confirm that I contribute to various open source projects. This is probably your best defense against little experience in the field.
If you have the experience/drive then do presentations and/or coding sessions at user group meetings and/or code camps. This also goes a LONG way. Displaying that you can talk and converse with other programmers in a scenario like this, it shows employers that you enjoy programming and working with the community.
Finally, start low. You will need to start at the bottom of the totem pole, but work hard and show that you are a quality programmer and recruitors/employers will be banging down your door.
By the fact that you A) posted a question to this site and B) have a blog it appears, it shows you have passion. That is one thing a lot of people don't have so you that to your advantage. Use that passion to further your knowledge.
If you are truly passionate about programming as you say, then just start programming. You can't learn how to program by thinking your way through it. The only way to get experience is to program. For someone like yourself, find an open source project you want to help and start contributing. That will give you valuable experience in using source control among other things.
The other thing is find a technology that you feel you can really get behind and go deep on it, learn any and everything you can about that technology and that platform. Immerse yourself. The reason I say that is because someone isn't going to hire you if you know a little about this and a little about that. They expect you to be able to walk in and do a job. That doesn't mean you shouldn't "play" with other things, but do yourself a favor and leave them off your resume unless you have production experience with them.
Hope that helps.
-Keith
Bring with you some Perl code that:
demonstrates a programming style that you can be proud of,
does something significant and useful, and
is object-oriented (for good reasons, not just to demonstrate that you can regurgitate syntax)
Contribute patches to some CPAN distribution. This will show that you: 1) use CPAN - managers love peoples that can write code faster 2) can read and modify someones code.
Study Moose/Mouse - it is modern OO system for Perl, it is much better that old OO system that was copied from Python.
Every company is different. I have been a Senior Software Developer at Software companies, and I was never even asked a programming question.
Do your best in the interviews and just be yourself.
I find OOP to be useful, but sometimes overrated paradigm to work within. Functional decomposition can get you pretty far.
You may have received a good grade in your C++ class, but would the professor recommend you for an internship?
Your school's reputation or lack of it may be influencing the selection process.