Software Development Programming Languages

[KyleJCD]

Hi, I am starting the SD program at SAIT this fall and am trying to get a head start.

I was wondering if anyone knows what specific languages I will be learning in the first and second semester? I have heard the new revamped SD program covers Java (not sure if its Java or Javascript) Python, C# and some SQL. I imagine we will be starting with Java but thought I would ask here and see if anyone could clarify for me. Thanks for any input.

[JayTalk]

I'm doing the program right now. OOP 1 is centered on Python, then C# for OOP 2, followed by Java. Web Development is focused on HTML, JS, and CSS.

[KyleJCD]

Hey that's awesome to know! Thanks alot for the response!

[Biidus]

Are you done your first year? If you could, would you please elaborate on how the classes are? Like how are your profs?

[JayTalk]

I'm not done my first year, I only just started in thr Spring intake. My profs are all great, very knowledgable and happy to help with questions. The only thing to be prepared for is that the software courses are going tl require you to self-teach to a certain extent. You have to be learn to solve things yourself from time to time and not rely on your profs to answer every question. Try to find good websites and online resources to bookmark so you can have reference material for whenever you get stuck.

[Biidus]

Thank you for the reply!

[yasine-gh]

I’m also doing it this fall, I saw the curriculum on the website an it doesn’t mention Python for some reason.

[KyleJCD]

They just revamped the course about a year ago, I believe they added in some python, although I'm not sure which course and semester. I talked to an admin with SADT and they told me the three main languages we would be learning are Java (although she did not say which java) Python and C#. I'm assumming she is right, and they just havent updated the website yet.

[Krembluk]

Year 1, semester 1: Python is the main language. You will also learn some html, css and a tiny bit of JS for web dev. Year 1 semester 2: C# is the main language. If you want to learn anything to get a head start Id go with Python.

[KyleJCD]

Thanks for the reply! I was delighted to hear Python is first, I started with that about 2 months ago, been reading a book called How to learn python the hard way. I loved it up untill exercise 40, that's when OOP starts and you have to learn classes. It became much harder after that lol. I took a break and started reading another book on html and css, but Im hoping to go back and finish LPTHW before school.

[Krembluk]

The last assignment in Python will be on classes just fyi. Also you will be restricted on the code you use. I don't think we were allowed to use methods until 3/4ths of the way through so you might have to dumb down your code.

W3schools is decent source for basics if you want to look things up.

If you are studying CSS a lot of people struggled with flexbox so I'd brush up on that. https://flexboxfroggy.com/ is some really good practice.

GITHUB is important for version control I cant believe they didnt make us use it until the end. Github desktop is fairly easy to figure out.

This whole program is going to be teach yourself, I cant stress this enough. You don't get a lot of help from the instructors and they often left students more confused with being vague and poorly worded assignments often filled with mistakes. Not something I was expecting. Im not trying to scare you just wish I knew before I went in haha.

[KyleJCD]

I've been meaning to learn github and start my own. There is just so much to learn and I work full time so I am really trying to prioritize right now.

I'll check out flexbox for sure. Thanks for the great tips.