₦airaland Forum

[size=13pt]My advice for you will be to learn PHP and C#, PHP will allow you to understand programming better as C# has too many drag and drop. Then use this knowledge to design websites.

The mistake a lot of people make is that they think to become a professional programmer they just need to learn coding. The truth is that in programming you are the Architect, Builder and Craftsman, Unlike in building where you have an Architect, Builder and Craftsman working independently. To become a professional programmer you need to know Analysis and Design Methodologies, like Agile, Extreme Programming, Scrum, Waterfall, SSADM etc, Usability Methodologies, like UCSD, Interactive Design etc, Project Management. Then Coding, Testing, Deployment and Support. These can only be achieved by going to University to study Software Engineering or if you study Computer science or any other computer related discipline you will need work experience to become a professional programmer.[/size]

Nairaland Hackers turn your talent into $$$$$/££££


Facebook says it has paid out £24,500 in three weeks to hackers who have discovered security flaws in the social network.

Source: Sky News – Wed, Aug 31, 2011

One of the hackers - or "White Hats", as Facebook calls them, has already earned over £4,000 for spotting six issues and reporting them.

Another bagged a £3,000 reward for identifying one particularly serious problem.

The payments are being made through Facebook's new "bug bounty" scheme, which invites all users to offer information about undiscovered security holes in return for cash.


Facebook admits it has received plenty of bogus reports since launching the scheme but says it is not deterred.

"We realise [, ] that there are many talented and well-intentioned security experts around the world who don't work for Facebook," said Joe Sullivan, the company's chief security officer.

"Over the years, we have received excellent support from independent researchers who have let us know about bugs they have found."

He went on: "We established this bug bounty programme in an effort to recognise and reward these individuals for their good work and encourage others to join."


Mr Sullivan said Facebook had been surprised at how quickly "White Hats" from all around the world had responded to the call for information.

"Facebook truly does have the world's best neighbourhood watch programme," he said.

While some Facebook users are making money from the bug bounty scheme, not all believe it goes far enough.

It does not cover the thousands of third party games and applications that use the site - even though web security firms warn that these pose a bigger threat than the main network.

Mr Sullivan conceded the programme could not be extended to applications due to the size of the task.

Other users suggested that if Facebook stopped constantly rolling out new features, it would have fewer flaws to correct.

B.Sc. (Hons) Software Engineering
Details of professional body accreditation: Full exemption from British Computer Society (BCS) for Single Honours Degree in Software Engineering

Single Honours Degree in Software Engineering gives full exemption from The British Computer Society - Which is The Chartered Institute for IT Professionals in the United Kingdom and internationally.

Is this the same for B.Sc. (Hons) Computer Science just wondering?

[quote author=omo_to_dun link=topic=708120.msg8761045#msg8761045 date=1311257921]Then prove me wrong. Show me a forum created by anyone here that did not use CMS. I know what I am talking about. This statement is akin to saying that NO ONE on nairaland has the expertise to write an Operating System or a Compiler, which is a fact. There are only a few people in the world who can! The level of expertise one needs to undertake such a feat(creating a scalable forum from scratch) is very high and few people in the world possess it. A lot of people's egos were hurt by this fact, but it is the truth. All folks can do is talk, but if we ask for proof, they show us nothing. More importantly, if you know anyone with such skills, please let me know. I'd love to be proved wrong! [/quote]I think one day, me and you should combine our knowledge in CS and SE, so that we can emerge as the next Bill Gates and Paul Allen that will come out from Niaja.

Fayimora:
Yaaay Interaction design is in m syllabus, The previous 3rd years had to design a twitter app dats more user friendly then twitter and some extra stuff too, Have you taken it, would you recommend i add it to ma modules?

I did it in my second year in SE, didn't like it at first but later I got used to it. As you are interested in SE I will recommend you add it to you modules, though you may want to look at the work of those you know that have done it before, just to get yourself prepared for it, as the module is very challenging and demanding.

Interaction Design in CS is similar to Human Computer Interaction or Usability Engineering in SE.

Fayimora:
Hmm ok, Dnt think i even know what usability engineering is, Coolio

Usability engineering is just a posh name for Human Computer Interaction (HCI).

Fayimora:
@csharpjava ask him if the same applies to those who actually focused on software development while studying, lol

No you don't need to ask him, I have the answer for you. The modules below for SE are the ones that makes the difference between SE and CS.

Level
1   Information Systems       

2   Information Systems Modelling and Design             
2   Professional Issues in ICT        
2   Usability Engineering         

3   Advanced Information Systems Development                   
3   Formal Methods in Software Engineering

Fayimora:
Naaa leave pharmacy out of it, Am talking about CS and SE

Pharmacy and Medicine are the best examples I can give, even in programming we do compare objects to real life objects just to make things clearer.
For those who would like to know more about how CS differs from SE, the link provided by omo_to_dun below will explain it better.

[quote author=omo_to_dun link=topic=715466.msg8749421#msg8749421 date=1311112544]One particularly useful book was Professional Software Development. Chapter 4 can be read here: PSD: Chapter 4 .

A quote from the above link: A computer science graduate " might spend two days hand-tuning a sorting algorithm instead of two hours using a code library or copying a suitable algorithm from a book. The typical computer science graduate typically needs several years of on-the-job training to accumulate enough practical knowledge to build minimally satisfactory production software without supervision." On the other hand software engineering gratuates have already received this training during their studies at Uni.[/quote]

Fayimora:
Offtopic:
For me I also think its a bloody aste of time.lol. csharpjava or omo_to_dun tell me you are actually gonna waste useful years of your life studying "SE"!

If someone is studying B.sc pharmacy would you say it's a bloody waste of time because that person could have studied B.sc Medicine instead? Though some of the modules do overlap but they are two different areas of specialisation.

Fayimora:
Hmmm I study software engineering and am a CS student

The following are the core requirements for the single pathway for B.sc Software Engineering now tell me after going through all the modules, if you still feel you are studying software engineering?

LEVEL TITLE                                                    

1 Introduction to Software Development
1 Academic Skills for Computing
1 Web Authoring and  Web Management
1 Introduction to Computer Systems
1 Information Systems
1 Visual Programming

2 Information Systems Modelling and Design
2 Operating Systems
2 Professional Issues in ICT
2 Software Development
2 Usability Engineering
2 Database Systems

3 Advanced Information Systems Development
3 Network Programming
3 Research and Academic Development
3 Programming Paradigms
3 Formal Methods in Software Engineering
3 Project

Wexelion:
Thanks, but do you mean that under cs there are other sub-courses,e.g software engineering,computer programming

Wrong software engineering is not a sub-course under Computer science. Software engineering is by itself. You cannot say B.sc Pharmacy is a sub-course under B.sc Medicine, though they overlap but they are not the same.

[quote author=omo_to_dun link=topic=708120.msg8697580#msg8697580 date=1310420487]@ tundebabzy

I have read tons of your comments and you are an intelligent guy, and I also disagree with on this issue. As simple as NL seems, it would be a lot of hard work to recreate without using a CMS; do you know of any Nigerian forums that were built from the ground up? I did not mean to be disrespectful to Nigerian programmers who labor everyday to gain knowledge and to put food on their tables; I only gave an honest assessment about the level of skills of the average Nigerian programmer. We still have a long way to go.[/quote]Well said, but what baffles me is that a lot of Nigerians do not like hearing such comments, it is not disrespectful but the truth. Instead of them being annoyed with such comments, they should start looking for how they can put people with the right skills together so that we too can start creating the type of advance software people in the west are creating.

barlery:
pls can i get a link to download C++ compiler.
thanks

http://sourceforge.net/projects/dev-cpp/files/Binaries/Dev-C%2B%2B%204.9.9.2/devcpp-4.9.9.2_setup.exe/download

[quote author=omo_to_dun link=topic=708120.msg8675251#msg8675251 date=1310110512]No, I wasn't being sarcastic or even looking for a fight; I really am curious about a solution, which is why I am looking forward to yours. We're all here to learn.[/quote]The solution is that we need someone who studied software engineering to co-ordinate such a task. Engineers are the people who use technology to solve real life problems, scientists are the ones that develop new technologies for engineers to use. It is a pity that no Uni in Nigeria is offering software engineering. Please correct me if I'm wrong on the later.

[quote author=omo_to_dun link=topic=708120.msg8675154#msg8675154 date=1310109546]Please, do tell. [/quote]I think I'll just stay out of this.

[quote author=omo_to_dun link=topic=708120.msg8674231#msg8674231 date=1310089498] How am I supposed to know why? [/quote]Though you don't know why, but I think I know the solution.

[quote author=omo_to_dun link=topic=708120.msg8674231#msg8674231 date=1310089498]The programmers on NL do not have the expertise to create a Nairaland-like forum from scratch, without resorting to CMS.[/quote]And why do they lack the expertise?

Edited:
Thanks for starting this thread. Can you show an example of the code you would use to avoid a pointer from corrupting the memory space of the operating system?

I wish to tender my humble apology for the last statement I made on this thread.

@netghost

actually, i am wondering why more m.o.r.o.n.s exist in the programming section than any other section

I won't let you drag me down this route.

@netghost

noise noise noise

And then you wonder why your race is behind in technology

@omo_to_dun

There is no private high school in America that can give you know the requisite knowledge to be fully adequately versed in Computer Science, none. If there is one, kindly provide a link so that we would know.

You are wrong, here in the UK I know a top secondary school not even private that teach year one HTML, JavaScript, soldering of circuit board etc in ITC. Students in such top schools have already acquired a lot of knowledge in programming, that is why you hear a 13 year old inventing something new in computing, so stop thinking these kids only read about programming in a book.

There are millions of game programmers in the world but creativity is what makes a game! That is what Nigerians also lack! Has it ever occurred to you that the best video game designers have no formal education? No PhD can give you creativity.

You are wrong again we have creative people in Nigeria, what we lack are people that can pass on the knowledge to turn our creativity into something real. Take my example above year one in secondary school already knows how to write HTML, JavaScript, soldering a circuit board how can kids like that not produce something creative.

I was on Nvidia's website today reading about some shading techniques; I downloaded the source code, read it, also read a white paper attached to it, and guess what, I have learned something new by myself. School can't teach you everything.

Wrong again, you would not have understood complex programming techniques if you have not already been introduced to it at a top secondary school or at a Uni. Bill Gates and Paul Allen while in secondary school were already using teletype terminal to develop their programming skills on several time-sharing computer systems.

I thought we were talking about video games, but you posted a link to Career Path at Sony Inc, not Sony Games.

If you want a job as a games programmer with Sony you still have to apply through their career link.
Let me ask you this question have you worked in an organisations like NASA, Microsoft, IBM and so on, if you have then you won’t be saying that going to Uni to study computer programming is not necessary. Do you know these organisations gives millions of $ to University Professors for research.

@omo_to_dun
In reply to your post above. Let us take a look a Steve Jobs:
“Jobs attended Cupertino Junior High School and Homestead High School in Cupertino, California,[23] and frequented after-school lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, California. He was soon hired there and worked with Steve Wozniak as a summer employee.[34] In 1972, Jobs graduated from high school and enrolled in Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Although he dropped out after only one semester,[35] he continued auditing classes at Reed, such as one in calligraphy, while sleeping on the floor in friends' rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple.[17] Jobs later stated, "If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts."[17]”
Source: wikipedia

Steve Jobs was working for Hewlett-Packard a computer company while he was still in high school and he also went to college though not for long, note his remark above “If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts” These guys had early exposure to computer technology and they are exceptional cases so you cannot use them as a general example.

You also mentioned about open source community, let us look at Linux an open source operating system, it was originally written in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linus Torvalds is a Software Engineer you don’t become a Software Engineer by reading books alone at home. Do you think that open source communities don’t have those that have been to Uni?

For those that just want to learn programming for the fun of it then fine they can just read books alone, but for those that want a career in programming then going to Uni is their best option.

@omo_to_dun

Zuckerberg did not learn how to make websites in Harvard? Harvard did not teach Bill Gates programming!

You do not know the full history of these guys you've mentioned above. Take Bill Gate for example, him and his friend Paul Allen co founder of Microsoft, were privileged to attend a private school this gave them exposure to computers at a very early age, with this exposure came the vision to create windows, so by the time they were in Uni they could not wait to achieve their vision and that was why they left Uni not that they dropped out. Unless someone has this kind of privilege and a vision these guys you have mentioned had, my advice is for anyone interested in technology to go to Uni and complete it, if they have the opportunity.

Requirements
·         3+ years programming experience.
·         Demonstrated proficiency in and knowledge of C/C++, data structures, performance, and multi-threaded programming techniques.

Have you asked those with 3+ years programming experience in a proper IT company if they got in without a degree?

@omo_to_dun,
To become an expert in the field of technology, you need class room lectures, hands on practice in the lab and then books for reference, with all the books read in Nigeria why can't we have our own computers, compiler and programming language, our own home made cars not assembled cars and so on. Hands on research is what gives someone knowledge to be innovative. Reading books alone like we do in Nigeria leads to copycats like you rightly said before.

This is a career link http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/Careers/?j-short=careers for Sony and they are not asking for someone that is self taught, if you have not completed your second year at Uni or a graduate they will never invite you for an interview.
These companies like Sony have different jobs for most of the computing areas studied at Uni so they can recruit any one at your school to work in the department relevant to their area of study.
It will be quicker for them to train a graduate of games programming to develop their games than a graduate of computer science, they would rather put a computer science graduate in their research and development department or quality assurance department, as these departments are relevant the computer science.

What if you are a graduate and you want to learn something new, do you go back to school? Then what is the point of your education if you can't teach yourself stuff?

There are short courses at Uni for graduates that wants to learn something new.

@Fayimora

Errm doesn't make sense! All they teach you is how to program, analyze, design and not how to develop games. That part is up to you and there are specific courses/modules for that,

Totally disagree. I knw a second year student, CS, and has done nothing related to game programming before and he is working with UBISoft presently,  :p DOn't forget that you must not have experience in game programming to be able to develop one. Fragments of sooo many other things make up the game.

You just like to miss lead others, is like saying if you want to become a Doctor you can study Pharmacy, Computer Science is meant for someone that wants to become a researcher in computing, yes your friend can get a job @UBISoft but that does not mean he is a games developer for UBISoft, My advice for anyone planning on becoming a games programmer is to take a computer games programming course at a University. No games company will employ someone that read games programming from a book like the kind of advice that are being given on this forum, books are for reference, you learn the real stuff at Uni, book will only teach you how to write the syntax, writing syntax is not programming it's just child's play.

Haha if i actually understand what you mean by that then i wonder why you are on the forum itself.

You are right I'm on the wrong forum. Well I have completed my own forum, where I will now be devoting all the time I have been spending here

How many of you here saying Java is best for games development is a Computer games programming lecturer in a UK University? All the universities I know in the UK are using C++ to tech games programming and at every stage in the development of the course these universities do consult with industry to ensure they develop the students with skills the industry needs for games development.
Companies like Sony will not employ someone that has learnt games programming from a book rather they will employ a games programming graduate from a UK university or similar universities in the world.
I'm tired of reading baby stuff on this forum.

Python is used more for web severs and the reason for this is that the codes are executed as you type.
Source: http://academicearth.org/lectures/introduction-to-programming-paradigms-course