The way you learn?

CaviB

CaviB

Google Hammered 24/7
Jul 11, 2009
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Canada
I'm currently reading up on php and MySql , and have read up on a number of other technologies. I'm wondering what's the best way you find learning from the examples in these books. Is it reading a whole chapter then going back and working on the examples or to stop reading and do the example right there, then continue reading the chapter?

Thanks in advance for any input on this.
 


Dude - why are you working so hard? All you really need to know is how to print "hello world" in any language.

At least as far as I can tell from the first chapter.

(seriously though)

It all depends on your learning style - how do you learn best? We can't tell you that.
 
I read a whole chapter then do the examples , after that I play around with the code to understand the functionality better. I'm not expecting to be told how to learn , just looking for something new to try that I haven't thought about.
 
Have something in mind that you can try to accomplish, like a login form or a banner rotator or whatever, then try to find two or three different ways to accomplish it in the language you are learning. I think this process gives you a lot of insight about the different functions and whatnot...
 
I learned by knowing what I wanted to accomplish, searching for a tutorial, failing miserably for hours, then finally stumbling on getting it to work. Do that a couple of times and you can do just about anything.
 
Learning by reading a bit, then doing.

The times when I would go through a whole programming book are over.

Nowadays I find out how to do a few basics:

- How do I define a variable, an array?
- How do I output a variable / an array element?
- How do I do conditional statements (If.. then , Case...select, etc...)?
- How can I do loops (While, For, For each)
- How do I connect to a Database?

And then dive right in, keeping the book by the side for reference (I still heart books for this)

::emp::
 
emp said:
Learning by reading a bit, then doing.

The times when I would go through a whole programming book are over.

Nowadays I find out how to do a few basics:

- How do I define a variable, an array?
- How do I output a variable / an array element?
- How do I do conditional statements (If.. then , Case...select, etc...)?
- How can I do loops (While, For, For each)
- How do I connect to a Database?

And then dive right in, keeping the book by the side for reference (I still heart books for this)

::emp::
Click to expand...

This is pretty sound advice. The only place where you might want to go deeper is if you plan on replacing your "main" language, or you see yourself using a whole lot of this new language.

The reason for this is that languages are different and their idioms are different. Learning to be Pythonic, Lispy, or whateverthefuck can really save you a lot of time and headache when delving deep into a language. If you just took a PHP program and translated it line by line into the corresponding Python, you'd be killing yourself.

I learn by doing, which is the reason why you're learning, so you might as well get your hands dirty as soon as possible. It will really solidify your understanding and immediately expose those areas that you need to study more about.

@Emp I'm still waiting for my epic boobs ;)
 
For one side, I agree.
When you want to be really proficient in a language, I do agree, you really need to dive in all out, over your ears, until you think in [$language].

On the other hand, (I mentioned this in another post), my carreer (haha) so far had me doing a whole lot of stuff with a whole lot of language.

I have used everything from Basic, Visual Basic, VB.Net, C#, Java, Perl, PHP, Pascal, XSLT, XMLm HTML and CSS.

The above is the basics you need to dive into almost any language in order to DO stuff, using simple and ugly code, just get it working.

::emp::
 
It is my opinion that only reading and experimenting it on various field is not enough.when someone going to start a new language must be hire a good tutor to teach about basics. Then some one might be able to read the books and understand and implement the concepts.
 
bugs are my learning technique, you can read and read and read but you won't learn it. Just get stuck in and start banging code out, then fixing it when it doesn't work.
 
I've learned by simply trying to build something.. I've never read a book or anything, but I'm not a great coder I can just code the stuff I need to. Planning on taking it to the next level though soon.

What do you want to build? A google scraper? A video CMS? Keep trying to piece bits of code together until you start figuring out how things work and eventually you will learn. Obviously reading and studying while doing this will help massively.
 
I usually check lynda.com if they some video tutorials on the matter i'm interested in. It gives me at least the basics, which are important to know because it helps you learn faster. Then, like others have said, try to solve a real problem.
 
One monitor has the example code I'm trying another monitor will have multiple pdf files showing me the way. Usually have more than one pdf up as when I get stuck different angles help me get thru it.

Can't do regular books anymore love that search action and the ability to copy paste quickly.
 
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