Learned more than intended..

General Discussions
#1

Hi there,

So I’m currently sitting in my JAVA 1 class as a freshman in College. In detail, the class is going over compound if/else. The last class period, I showed the class my recently published app Glacier Glide:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.austinh.glacier.android

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in java. I’ve been learning from tutorials, books, and the community for nearly 3 years. I am not 100% sure why I chose java, rather than something I am unfamiliar with, such as C++. The professor said earlier that the furthest we will get in this class is most likely if/else statements. It shocked me. I understand the language just as much as I do HTML and CSS.

I don’t know where I am going with this. I suppose it is simply a rant. Anyways, if you are going into college, specifically the Computer Science degree, choose the language that you DON’T know. I made that mistake. Don’t get me wrong, the class is fun, just too easy. It’s a waste of time you could say. I could be learning C++.

-A

#2

Don’t focus on languages, focus on concepts.

Of course, languages are often good tools for learning different concepts, so you should learn a few.

#3

I disagree with the “Learned more than intended” thing. In my opinion you can never learn enough. You won’t stop learning new things until you’re dead. I’m sure people think that they learned something useless, or that they wasted time learning something, but learning more than absolutely neccesary doesn’t hurt anybody. It’s like with science, the more answers you get, the more questions you’ll have after that. So when you learn more about certain topics, you gain a much wider perspective on things. I can see that with myself a lot. When I learn stuff about a topic in programming, I always get a new perspective on things, even on things I’ve learned way in the past. So you can’t really learn more than intended, because that knowlegde may lead you to something you actually did want to know.

#4

You say that now, but just wait until 2 classes from now when you get into the more advanced stuff. You’ll be begging to go back to if statements and for loops.

It can be easy to get a bit of an ego if you’re in a class that you think you already understand, but that goes away pretty quickly when you find yourself in a room full of people who make you look like a script kiddie.

(and if you’ve never felt that way, then you’re hanging out with the wrong people)

#5

The more you know, the more you realize you know nothing.

- rough cliche quote from likely many people
#6

Yeah…CS is unknowable large.

Test out of the course if you can.

#7

Should have taken the next course up :slight_smile:

Def check curriculums before enrolling on stuff. Bakery, guitar, whatever. Choose one covering stuff you don’t know.

#8

I had the same problem in my computer class…
So the teacher allowed to just go on my own and do my own stuff…

I started by trying to learn C++ but I found that too hard so instead I found a page of why C++ sucks then gave up on it and just worked on my game engine… The teacher didn’t really care…

#9

I really lucked out as my freshman year in '96 the best CS professor at the uni (Clint Staley!) offered a new course that combined the typical 101, 102, 103 (first 3 freshman classes) into an intensive one quarter onslaught of C++. You didn’t need to take the final if you created a chess program that could beat the professor. The last actual assignment was a fairly difficult bin packing problem. My 2nd quarter I took computer architecture I and the 3rd quarter as a freshman I was in computer architecture II with practically all seniors several of whom failed that course and needed to pass to graduate… I got a C my first go, but moved on… :emo: I then finished and then some my senior project the summer of my freshman year… ::slight_smile: I actually finished most of my major courses in the first 2 years and almost got bored having to finish all the GE.

As others have mentioned the rabbit hole goes quite deep, so just find something you are interested in and start / continue the endless self-education process. For me that was audio and I immersed myself in the general computer music discipline along with graphics. The computer music stuff however was no where to be found at my uni, so all self-taught. It never ends and I’ve been at it for 20+ years now and learn new things all the time!