The Fundamentals – Sort of
January 15th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Good news: I’m not learning a new programming language right now! …. Sort of. Right now I’m reading a book called “The Object Oriented Thought Process” by Matt Weisfeld. While most of the examples are mostly Java or .NET something-or-other, I’m actually doing a good job at understanding the code examples. This is actually my second time around reading this book. About 6 years ago I picked up the first edition in a school bookstore, which means that I was buying a book that I wasn’t taking a class for, and I over paid for it. I didn’t get too far into the book. Looking back, I remember thinking that I understood what I was reading but knowing what I know now I’m confident I can tell my past self that I wasn’t really grasping what the book was telling me.
I remember reading in a different book that new programmers are at an advantage when learning a new programming methodology like OOP (object oriented programming) versus procedural programming because you don’t need to unlearn or let go of what you learned in the past. Thank god because I’m having a hard enough time learning OOP as it is! 
In a previous post I mentioned that one of my road blocks to learning programming is coming up with ideas for small test programs that I can try out what I learned. Another thing I also struggle with is “how” to program something. I do fine with learning syntax, but I feel like most books that I read get done with syntax and then expect that you just know the ‘how and why’ of define classes. Again, I know how to define a class, but what should I put into the class? Or rather, what do I need to be thinking about to consider making a class a certain why?
Needless to say, “The Object-Orient Thought Process” is helping. If I remember, I’ll let you know what I thought of the book once/if I finish it. I have a nasty habit of starting a book and not finishing it before moving on to the next one…Yeah, I do that with most thing in my life. :/
