/λ/ - programming

>>129
I try to automate mundane things that I do semi-regularly on my computer in a language that I'm trying to get more familiar with even if I don't generally mind having to do those things manually. Other than that I'll take a peek at project euler or codewars every now and again to get some practice in. If I'm being totally honest though, I think I take the largest strides in improving my programming ability when I'm working on a passion project of some sort and I'm forced to use new techniques or familiarize myself with completely new concepts in order to complete the project.

>>130
But finding passion projects is hard!

What kind of stuff do you usually automate?

>>133
When I was getting comfortable with Ruby I would write simple scripts that would do things such as clear my clipboard, download an entire youtube playlist and then burn it onto a blank CD, look up the Lojban translation for a highlighted English word, etc. All I can say is to take inspiration from your daily routine and try to make your life easier either with the things you already know about programming or things that you can learn. You'll get more practice in and it'll make your workflow that much better.

What i'm doing:
Trying to read this linux book, problem is that uni has me extremely busy (im barely learning how to manage my time with my current workload which i can't keep up with so reading these books has had to take a hiatus).

What i want to do in the future:
0. Read more books on more interesting stuff. (on programming, maybe math, and that Cal Newport book on studying because i've always been so bad at school).
1. Participate in some FOSS projects, hopefully small stuff that u can move on from after you are done with it and find other small stuff, but i have no idea where to find such things that would be of my interest, no idea where to look for communities like that.
2. Develop things that i can use, right now I plan on making my own sort of application or system or whatever that will make my workflow super smooth (think of calendar + todolist + notetaking from school + kind of like a bulletjournal thing), the dream would be to implement it such that i can integrate it with some linux desktop environment so it's all there on my background or whatever. I still have no idea how i am going to do this, i will start by looking at emacs related things and learning about linux which im currently doing with books.
3. I just found out about problem-solving level-oriented projects such as Project Euler, so i plan on trying it out, it looks fun and a good way of learning, also overthewire.org, haven't tried them so i can't speak for the quality of these projects.

sorry for the blog-post aha

read up on different random number gnerators, make random number generators.

I have been playing with Exercism (https://exercism.io/) recently, it's your regular programming exercises but you get someone with experience to review your solution. They are volunteers so it's a bit slow and some languages are dead (Scheme for example…), but I learn a lot from their feedback.

>>1653
I like the idea of Exercism, but did not enjoy any of my time with it.

>>1653
This looks promising, thanks for sharing this site.

Are there any other websites people would reccomend? I'm new to coding and need refreshers and the chance to learn more. I've heard about Coding Academy and what-not, but there's so many to pick from it's a bit… overwhelming.

>>1654
Care to explain why?

I am wondering if any of you usually type in example programs and such from books. I often do it and I know that some books recommend doing it, but I was wondering if it is actually beneficial for learning or just some typing practice.

>>1687
Writing code, even if it's just copying something else line by line, is an essential part of learning a language. If you're feeling confident, read the code and try to reproduce it from memory or even extend it.

>>1687
I do that sort of thing a lot. Not really from books, but I guess an example is I've been doing Python3 exercises (www.practicepython.org) and sometimes I'll look at the solutions that other people post when I get stuck. It's helpful simply seeing the solution, especially since I'm a beginner and don't really know how to look stuff up myself yet. Then I can put the pieces together myself and come to my own understanding.

>>1687

I did once, I found that a lot of the examples had errors that I had to correct. I guess I learned what I was supposed to, really really well, but I don't bother typing in examples anymore.

>>1690
Why not? Would you rather learn erroneously? If nothing else, it is a good indicator that you are studying with diligence (or that you need to look for a better book).

>>1653
There are so many sites like this where you are given some tests and have to write code to pass them. Does the opposite also exist, an exercise site where you have to write tests that catches errors?

There are a lot of practice in competitive programming. Try: codeforces, acm.timus.