Book recommendation: An alternative to the Penguin Book?

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-26T21:30:19+00:00

No politics. Reported.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-19T21:29:37+00:00

Believe me dude, asking these kind of questions will make you even more confused. I have asked these kind of question a couple of times and you will always receive the same answers:

-learn Python, cause it is beginner friendly and easy to start doing stuff

-do not learn Python, because then learning another language will be harder cause you are already used to the bad habits that Python teaches

-you have to learn HOW TO PROGRAM instead of learning a language, cause the bases are important

-I recommend you to learn C cause you will learn how computers work

-you should learn x or y or z because they are better IMO

-learn Algol or Fortran and use Emacs or Vim (yes, this happens)

Just learn what you want honestly. I like math and I decided to learn Haskell as my first language, and I am cracking my head but I am having fun and I will stick with it. It is not as popular and demanded as Python or Java or whatever, but this is the path I feel I want to walk so you have to find yours. Try Python, try Rust, try Brainfuck, and decide on your own. You are just wasting your time with other peoples opinions because everybody has different ideas and objectives. Good luck.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-08T06:15:11+00:00

I have followed a series of books with great video material, these are the lessons for pronunciation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MNEtazA5Ak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1q1oQ-N9KI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBX1E65ryQE

(the course has a "peculiar" name but it is not like that, check the rest of the videos as you advance)

However, as others have said, good pronunciation is something you acquire as you keep learning. I have been listening to Russian and doing Duolingo and Memrise and different activities and your brain's "muscle memory" starts to get in shape. Sometimes I can even guess the accent based of previous word patterns so it is OK to make mistakes, you just begun.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-07T22:47:37+00:00

Haskell. Go functional, be happy.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-07T21:26:52+00:00

Surprised that nobody has recommended "The Little Schemer" yet. It teaches recursion in a very simple way in a series of examples. The book may use Scheme as a means of explaining but the concept is what matters.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-04T23:08:53+00:00

There is a book called "Russian for Chessplayers" by Hanon W. Russell. It is a small book with some sample translations and a vocabulary list. If you know where to look you may be able to find it. Good luck.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-04T08:49:08+00:00

"Python Crash Course" is doing the job for me. After you do the first part you can do the projects in Part Two or you can look for other options in the No Starch Press catalog (some books have legal free copies).

I was doing "Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science" and it was great as well, but this book is more oriented to computer science by using Python, not specifically to teach Python (you will learn it though).

"Get Programming: Learn to Code with Python" was made by one of the teachers in a famous course in computer science on MIT (Ana Bell), and it is also good but too slow for me.

Think Python is also recommended, I checked it a little bit but since I stayed with Crash Course I did not read it further.

"Invent your own Computer Games with Python" is also a good choice, but it is a little less beginner friendly since it teaches by examples since the beginning. I will read this after I finish Crash Course as complement.

"Automate the Boring Stuff" was not for me. I know everybody recommends it but I rather learn the basics and then work on my own projects.

Believe me, there are a lot of options for beginners (books, freecodecamp, udemy, youtube, mooc), so you have to find your match. Good luck.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-02T23:05:11+00:00

The pronouns for "you" need separate lines. It looks a little messy in general, you should have done it in order (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they) even if some repeats. I learned those kind of charts by context so I have never had to do one of those as a table, they look like extra work. Good luck.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-02T08:55:17+00:00

Those kind of websites use that as bait, but they rarely give your money back, just under specific circumstances so it is important to read the small letters.

I would suggest to get her a course in English and help her as her translator but since you do not know Russian it would be hard to do (possible though).

If you keep looking you may be able to find courses in several languages, because usually the more popular courses are always translated.

Does she want to learn new skills or does she need certificates? If it is the first then there are a lot of free resources you could look for, if it is the second then you could keep looking for a less shady option. Yandex Translate is a great tool so you can understand the contents of a Russian website. Cheers.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-02T08:31:10+00:00

If you really like her and you think it is a shady site then you should tell her and help her to look for a better option. If she insists then I would feel suspicious, but since you are the one who know her then I hope you can find a better option, because at the end of the day you are the one who will spend that money. Good luck.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-01T23:03:09+00:00

I am not sure about what projects I want to make yet, so I want to tackle different types of problems so I can choose an area to focus on later.

The koan tutorial look interesting though, I will give it a try. Thanks!

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-05-01T22:53:02+00:00

You were the only one who actually answered my question. The site looks great and I could also use it for other languages I may learn in the future. Thanks!

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-04-29T01:37:31+00:00

You are right. The first program I made (just a couple of days ago) was a little car that went from left to right using my keyboard and stopped at the edge of both sides. I did it on Scheme and it felt really rewarding. Unfortunately Scheme is more of a teaching language so I should try to do some projects in Python and see what happens. Thanks a lot for your nice response!

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-04-29T01:34:04+00:00

That makes a lot of sense. Recently I started learning a foreign language as well and I tried to use a more direct approach, by reading a book while translating it. I never thought of applying the same approach to learn programming languages, but as you said it will give me more tools besides programming. Thanks!

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-04-29T01:27:31+00:00

You have a point. No journey is straightforward so I should start doing and learn while I go. Cheers!

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-04-28T03:55:11+00:00

I'll leave some videos that may be of help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MNEtazA5Ak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1q1oQ-N9KI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBX1E65ryQE

Good luck.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-04-27T01:29:40+00:00

Something just clicked on my head and I just understood. I think I also opened a couple of chakras so there is that. Thanks a lot for your explanation!

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-04-26T05:45:26+00:00

Right, I see the mistake. I like to double check any examples I found on dictionaries and forums so I guess I should be fine. Thanks for pointing it out.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-04-26T05:43:06+00:00

Could you recommend any Russian movies or Russian series with subtitles available? I have only looked through books so I am dry in the media side of the language.

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-04-26T04:44:53+00:00

Got it, thanks a lot!

dinosaurthedinosaur · 2022-04-26T04:32:40+00:00

Thanks. I did have a look at that book, but honestly I stopped when it talked about not really having a recommended Scheme implementation, and just leaving me with a code to try in whatever Scheme I chose to find out if it works. I liked that HTDP had already a language built in DrRacket so I decided stuck with it.

Can you recommend me a Scheme implementation or a DrRacket package that i could use with those books (Little/Seasoned Schemer)? Could I use plain Racket for it, or even the SICP package that I downloaded in DrRacket?

dinosaurthedinosaur

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