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Thursday, March 06, 2008 10:07 AM

Hello World Podcast

MacBreak Tech has a recent podcast talking about learning to program. They begin with the question "how do I start programming games" and break it down. Pick a project. Don't learn for learning's sake. Learn to accomplish something. It will give you a
Posted by SteveRowe | 1 Comments
Wednesday, January 09, 2008 9:24 AM

Do We Need A New Kind of CS Degree?

Joel Spolsky suggests that we should have something called a BFA in Software Development . That is, a Bachelor's in Fine Arts focused on creating software. I think he's onto something. I've called for something similar in the past. Presently there are
Posted by SteveRowe | 5 Comments
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Tuesday, October 23, 2007 6:45 AM

What Self-Taught Programmers Are (Often) Missing

Some self-taught programmers can hold their own with the best coders out there. Others, although smart people, are fundamentally less good at programming. While there is variation among classically trained coders too, they are on average better than their
Posted by SteveRowe | 5 Comments
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Wednesday, September 12, 2007 10:03 AM

Practice, Practice, Practice Makes Perfect

I was sent a link to this article as a followup to my post about learning to program over a long period of time. The article isn't about programming but rather about comedian Jerry Seinfeld. When he was young and working to be a comic, he had a particular
Posted by SteveRowe | 3 Comments
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Tuesday, September 04, 2007 6:55 AM

You Can't Learn To Program In A Hurry

A friend turned me on to this essay from Peter Norvig entitled Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years . In it the author attacks the idea of the "Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days" kind of books. They make it look easy to learn to program. Unfortunately,
Posted by SteveRowe | 13 Comments
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Friday, August 24, 2007 10:41 AM

Why Algorithms Matter

New programmers often don't appreciate the power of algorithms. They have one criteria for a piece of code: does it calculate the right answer? If it does, they go with it. Every CS program has at least one class on algorithms. However, if you are a self-taught
Posted by SteveRowe | 3 Comments
Tuesday, July 31, 2007 12:45 AM

More Resources For Teaching Children To Program

As I've stated before , I have a young son who I have been trying on and off to teach to program. I still owe you a post talking about what I've found does and does not work. In the mean time, I ran across this article which give several good resources.
Posted by SteveRowe | 2 Comments
Monday, May 14, 2007 2:20 PM

Three Types of CS Programs

In my mind there are three different types of programs you might find when looking for CS or CS-related degrees. When choosing a school to attend, it is important to understand what their focus is going to be. If what you want out of a program doesn't
Posted by SteveRowe | 1 Comments
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Thursday, April 26, 2007 10:50 PM

Teaching Your Team To Program

The world of testing is becoming a lot more technical than it once was. While there is still a need for strong exploratory testing, the need for test automation is increasing dramatically. Test automation requires programming at some level. Good test
Posted by SteveRowe | 2 Comments
Thursday, April 26, 2007 12:22 AM

Teaching Yourself To Program

Following up on my last post, I'll give some instruction for those testers who want to become programmers. As I said, last time, don't expect to learn everything you need to at work. The forces in play will almost certainly conspire to keep you from being
Posted by SteveRowe | 1 Comments
Friday, April 20, 2007 9:22 AM

It's Difficult to Grow a Test Developer

A lot of testers begin life as software test engineers. That is, they execute tests but don't do any (or much) programming. The dream of many testers is to become a test developer or a developer. Reciprocally, the dream of many test managers is to grow
Posted by SteveRowe | 6 Comments
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:14 AM

You Can't Teach Height, But Can You Teach Programming?

There's an old basketball saying--attributed to Frank Layden of the Utah Jazz-- that "You can't teach height." No matter how much skill you have, if you are short, you'll be at a disadvantage on the court. You can teach someone to be a better player,
Posted by SteveRowe | 8 Comments
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007 10:14 PM

Teaching My Son To Program

A few months back I read the article , "Why Johnny can't code" by David Brin. He talks about the trials he had teaching his son to BASIC. Just yesterday, I came across this article by Nat Torkington entitled, "Why Johnny Can't Program." This one talks
Posted by SteveRowe | 5 Comments
Thursday, January 20, 2005 11:17 AM

Language Choices

It has been asked several times which language is better for a test developer at Microsoft, C# or C++? The answer really depends on what group you will be working in. Different groups require different skills. It is my perception that C++ is by far the
Posted by SteveRowe | 6 Comments
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Thursday, January 06, 2005 11:39 AM

So You Want to Be a Test Developer

So you have an interest in becoming a test developer, eh? You’ve come to the right place. In this paper I will lay out what I think is the best path to take to becoming a test developer or really any sort of developer. Test developers are really just
Posted by SteveRowe | 5 Comments
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