₦airaland Forum

iHart:
@asalimpo

Yes, you are right. My findings show that what I may most likely need for Arduino is C or C++. But of all the programming language I have tried to enquire about, python tops the list for the scientists. My findings also show that it is easier to learn and code python when compared to other languages. So I thought I should go for it, while I think less about learning and coding the language, I will devote more time about the solution I want to create with it.

I don't mind how long it takes me, I just want to create solution, build and do something different. My fear is people doing it before me.

For Python with Adruino, check out Rasberry Pi library in Python. Also C++ is inevitable for this, but then C++ and python are the major languages you need in this area.
There is a misconception about Python being simple, Python's ease does not make it less powerful, some programs in python can be more difficult than equivalent java programs, for example Python's object oriented programming is not usually that easy to grasp compared to that of java or c++, also python is definitely powerful enough for what you need, but you also need c++. Python may be slower than c++ and dynamically typed, but it's much more high level and allows you prototype faster.
From my findings, C++ and Python are the two major languages for Robotics nowadays, so you are definitely on the right path with python.

buzritchy:
Hello all, this might not be the right place to post this but I feel professionals input should be gotten here, please which I.T course can a non-science or management student delve into? I am willing to switch to IT world

A lucrative IT course, school to learn(is NIIT good)? Fee range?

I will appreciate input from anyone.

Thank you all

lol, l understand where you are coming from, but it depends on what you like or what you want to do.
For instance, while thinking about web apps and websites, do you think it's something you'll love to do? then you can start by trying out Html and Css to get a feel of it.
There are other fields as well, but the most difficult part is in identifying what you want, of which no one can outrightly decide on your behalf, this is because the IT world is always changing with new technologies sprouting everyday, and this applies to almost every field in this sector. Hence only passion and a love for what you do would keep you abreast.
However for management fields related to IT, l have no idea about that and would leave it to the experts.

iHart:
...I am beginning to love this IT class. Its fun but its really eating into my schedule. Today we had another class and It was pretty cool. We did more work on CSS and then layouting the site. oh! I can't wait to start my python class.

Yes, i have a question to ask. Though i want to learn Python programming, my intention was not to use it for web development. In the web development, i wish to learn PHP, javascript... Now my instructor adviced me to start off web development with pyhton and leave PHP. To him, it will be better to learn python and use it for web development and whatever i want to use it for, than learning PHP, javascript (which are also programming language) for web development and then fall back to start pyhton. Thats a very long long journey. According to him, its better i master one programming language and master it very well, and that will take me timeeeeeeee. Since its python, i should face pyhton squarely.


So what do you think about the advice?


Pic: the outcome of what we did today. We laid out our site into different divisions and styled it with CSS. How do you see it?

l don't think you can do without javascript for frontend web development. Python is popular for the web but not as popular as javascript or PHP from my findings so far.
However l also agree with your instructor on this, you can't learn everything at once, but I'll say after learning Html and css, learn any of the popular javascript frameworks (like React, Jquery, or Angular next). Then cap it up with Python's Django, Pyramid, Web2py or Flask.
You can use the Django Rest framework for Restful Api's, with Javascript's React at the front end.
When it comes to the web, there's a lot to learn, there's also sql for your database management, just take it one at a time.

asalimpo:
You've not gotten into programming yet. You get there when u strt writing code,for now,u r doing markup. Brace yourself, you r in d easiest phase.
Not discouragemnt intended.

lol everyone has to start from somewhere baba.

stanliwise:
Not exactly correct but many point you hit were right. Golang would replace most python project soon. scripting engines have their draw back.
what most company this days do is build a new engine while keep the langiage e.g Facebook, Node also.

Well,until Golang replaces most python projects like you infere, but then even with the backing of Google for Golang, it's still too early to tell, same for Julia.
Well Instagram in particular still has django at the core of it's backend( note l said at the core, l know
big apps use so many technologies)but then django is at the core, and it's highly scalable and secure, the only major problem with django is that it isn't flexible. Here's an article on Instagram's smooth move to Python 3.


https://www.google.de/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://thenewstack.io/instagram-makes-smooth-move-python-3/&ved=2ahUKEwjjgJ7ziJziAhVEKFAKHf3wA8MQFjACegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw0fXRDvr4navMI7pn9K-hf0&cshid=1557873027545

paulnewplay:
if you are dead certain that all you will b doing is writing quick and dirty ,little programs then java is high ceremony but if you'll ever hav to venture in DESIGNING sizable systems, the quick-and-dirty philosophy of scripting languages will b your nemesis. The high ceremony of java/c# etc will come back to face you.
The so called verbosity of java will b a godsend then. High ceremony isnt a poor design feature of complex languages like java/c#. Tackling complexity involves high ceremony. It's there in mathematics,medicine,law,architecture,engineering,philosophy. It's inevitable. You simply wont get this point until you begin designing sizable mantainable systems then you'll wish your language was your ally.
Notice,that most modern javascript tools and frameworks are switching from raw javascript to typescript? Why?

Well you are not far from the truth, but then why is java not so highly favoured for machine learning, data science and Artificial intelligence? Heck python is even more popular for scientific numerical analysis than java these days and for data analysis(which most people work on generally), so my point is that even if you consider java a more advanced language, python has proven to be more practical for most tasks generally and gets you productive really fast.
Consider Assembly back in the days, it was way too difficult but necessary for the Software Engineer than C++ or C, but today very few software engineers would have to use assembly even though it's faster than C and closer to the metal than c or c++.
Also Instagram has python's Django at the core of it's backend, this means python can be used for very large software products(think lnstagram and Dropbox).
Javascript is a weakly typed language, python like javascript may be dynamically typed but not weakly typed, javascript has so many problems and it's definitely obvious to me why Typescript is needed.

paulnewplay:
in the view of experts they decry python. No static typing, so you hav to check types as you work.
You can program loosely. They usually show you how easy it is to write d simplest programme you could ever write, hello world. 1 line in python,5 in java, but what they dont say is that with large programs,you need structure which java has baked in: solid oop, solid abstraction mechanisms, hard to write non-oop code hence you are forced to think in d oop paradigm,with python,you can play dirty and avoid oop altogether. As you learn java , u learn software engineering principles upfront,this makes it harder than learning scripting languages like perl,python,ruby etc. Python is good in the hands of experienced engineers but for noobs,it could create misleading deceptive impressions about programming i.e that programming i.e software design n engineering is easy (it isnt).

Well for those of us who ain't software engineers, it gets the job done and makes you productive really fast (java is way too verbose) when you just have to automate things or get productive, it's more practical in my opinion. This topic has also been extensively discussed on research gate. Thanks for the feedback though, as your point is also worth noting.
lt's for thesame reason python is most favoured for machine learning and Artificial intelligence, you don't need too much complexity or verbosity in a programming language for those very technical and complex fields, hence python allows you focus on the problem to solve rather than diverse syntax rules.
But like you rightly pointed out, for software engineers or would be software engineers, learning python alone would be insufficient.

iHart:
the total cost hovers around 190k. Web design 26k Web development, 41k and Python 121k. Yes, with this structured learning, I believe I will do well

Web development with Django/flask?? or generally?

paulnewplay:
Java is good. It teaches good oop practices upfront. Python and other "easier" languages can inculcate some bad habits which you'll have to unlearn when working on large scale professional systems. What's ur pgd in and was ur bsc related to computing?
Advice: ditch sololearn and cheap android books. Buy /download full books.

what bad habits does python in particular inculcate? I'll just love to know for learning purpose.
l used to think on the contrary that python teaches good coding habits, and it's ease only comes from the fact that it was designed from start to be easily readable.

15-0

14-0

Niger is so poor, clearly not fit for international competitions yet.

Amujale:
Teach!


With great reference to your findings above, Africa owns the first known literate communities on the planet.

Presently, African historians and academics have discovered in all sorts of locations, ancient written text belonging to various African communities. U.N.E.S.C.O is aware of these discoveries.

Contrary to what most Eurocentric and Arab scholars assume, most mainland Africans are infact probably born literate. According to African linguistics, more scripts have been discovered in Africa than America , Asia & Europe combined.

Totaly nine major African scripts are presently discovered not includng Arabic e.g Akan, Meroitic, the above txt (hieroglyphics)e.t.c . More than anywhere else.

Then why weren't all these preserved? l believe the strength of western civilisation today comes from the fact that after the fall of the Roman Empire, the barbarians who conquered Rome also converted to Catholicism(the Roman religion of the era) and thus were also devoted to the Pope, with that Europe was born and the writings of various western philosophers and scientists were preserved for the western world to build on.
But the African story like most of other civilisations seem to be different in that when the states conquer each other (especially when inferior states take over the greater empires)they also throw away the philosophies and ideas of the conquered states and do not preserve or build on those cultures and achievements.

HolyHero:
all these white meh you listed are inventors they’re not necessarily influential... let’s be properly guided

Inventors are amongst the most influential besides religious founders(Jesus, Muhammed,Buddha)and Philosophers(Socrates, Confucius).
l would even argue that inventors are the most influential, and their inventions primarily demarcate the modern world from the stone age.

iRyan:
There are many black inventors from the likes of Philip Emeagwali who invented the fastest computer to Lewis Latimer who invented the filament of the light bulb. It is sad you don't get to hear about these people because the truth has been denied from you, schools won't teach you about these people rather they will teach you of non-black inventors, making them look like your lord and saviours.

Philip Emeagwali?? While l do not doubt his achievements, some of the claims about his feats are controversial though.

Thomas Sankara

ediko5:
When an expert talks, you will know. Kudos to you for this question.
This is he question i ask people when the come to me to learn programming. Is it web, desktop or mobile programming?

Lol, thanks for the complement, I'm not an expert though, I'll be some day, and yes you are right, it's more important to learn how to program for a specific purpose in a specific area or specific areas, than to just learn for the sake of learning.

asalimpo:
Did you mean runtime?
Did you mean 200k lines?

yeah, typo. l meant runtime.

Ade1bowale:
[color=#990000][/color]please for those who are programmers both beginners and masters I need help in other to know where to begin to learn programming
Both books,videos and advise from all of you would go a long way

Why do you want to learn programming? or better still what do you want to do with it?

Bizmagnet:
Start with HTML and CSS first and then pick a programming language of your choice later.

Html and CSS is mainly for web development. Web development is not the only aspect of programming.

Whispereye:
You should start with something really simple like Borland Pascal if it's still exists in any way or form, or maybe go directly to C or C++. It's really worth it for teaching. Java/Javascript is for sure way more popular, but not that easy to start with I would say from my own experience.

Are you saying c++ is easier than java? I have no experience whatsoever with c++

Angelawhite:
Java is very robust and versatile. That notwithstanding, I don’t consider it difficult. Java is my first love but after learning JavaScript, I discovered that there are things I consider difficult in Java.

In JavaScript, you don’t need to declare variable types.
I’ll just say , var myAge = 70; //my age has become integer.

In Java, I’d say: int myAge = 70;
There are many shorthand’s in JavaScript. Try handling onClickListeners on both and you’ll see the difference.

I love Java for handling app development like a baby

That's because javascript has dynamic typing(errors are only caught at wrong time)rather than static typing, this may be easy or difficult for you depending on the situation.
ln large projects, where you type above 200 lines, dynamic typing may become a curse. The problem again is that javascript is not only dynamically typed but also weakly typed, which means it could allow you use variables wrongly(without declaring the types) to the extent where everything becomes a mess, and debugging gets tougher.
Java is both strongly typed and statically typed, javascript is dynamically typed(,but weakly typed), python is also dynamically typed( but different from javascript in that it is strongly typed, and would hardly allow any error go free at runtime)
Both javascript and Python are called scripting languages, they both have advantages over java in their various domains, java's advantage though lies mainly in the fact that it has been the most widely used language for a long time now in enterprise, and still the most widely used language.
All three are very powerful in this era, and the fact that you know both java and javascript is a great thing.

throwaway:
Kotlin ...

lol yeah Kotlin and swift also, but even then kotlin uses the jvm.

dayo2me:
I heard people saying that and because of its simplicity that's why people rush it.

yeah it's simple but it let's you become very productive, because you would focus more on the problem you want to solve and less on syntax. But though it's simple, it has a wide range of uses like java.
Make no mistake, it's simple for beginners to get started with, but may take a long time to master.
However if you are an Android developer, you should stick with Java.

dayo2me:
really? I don't think these languages can do what java can do?

Python can do a lot though

asalimpo:
programming requires focus. So do books. So using a book will force u to develop d skills of concentration and focus. Reading a book from cover to cover will build ur stamina-on-dry-task muscles. So use books,just for this aspect. If u like movies,watch boring movies,to develop stamina4patience. If u hate reading,read books that put u to sleep to build endurance. If u like spending,save nd strve ur desire to build self control. The microwave-it philosophy , learn x in y hours wont work in d long run. Infct,without stamina,you'll crumble when u encounter problems,e.g work that spans months!

l read books and it's important to read books, but YouTube first then books, would give you perfect practical understanding. When you watch a YouTube video and you keep watching several videos you get better, then you can move on to read books to get better understanding, this has saved me a lot in my academics, and makes me better everyday in programming. YouTube is one of the best inventions of mankind, when you watch several then you can read books and technical documentations with a clearer perspective when you have much time.
Programming requires focus in the long run, and you would need stack overflow and books to help you out as you go along, but YouTube gets' beginners started at least.

Start with HTML...thats the rudiments of web programming

Go to YouTube and watch tutorials...they are free and educative...Don't let any of those nairalanders lure you to buy any ebook or pdf

Exactly, YouTube is always the best for learning. Just watch different ones and many of them.
Books waste a lot of time with verbose technical words confusing you in the process before you even get anything done that could encourage you.

abula112:
The only reason i can move to django is if dere is need for me to integrate marchine learning on the web app, which is easy to do with python than php

Yeah you can also use Python's flask which is easier than django. You can easily deploy your apps in flask.

Django take style hard sha, although powerful.

freethinker420:
Programmers in the house...I really want to learn programming...phython to be precise but my knowledge of mathematics isn't even upto average...so I wanna ask... can I still learn this??...

Mathematics?? since when did that become a requirement? just know basic secondary school maths and algebra, and you are good to go.
lt also depends on the area of python you want to delve into, what do you want to use python for??
lf you want to learn Python for Software Engineering, then you need Maths.
For Data Science and Machine Learning.. Knowledge of Statistics is required, for Web development and many others you don't need so much math.

koontz:
Thank you for the response. Please can you give examples of projects one can embark on after learning the basics? I'm sorry if this questions sounds amateurish. Lol

lt depends on what you are learning programming for?? why do you want to program?? For Web App?? Machine/Deep Learning?? Data Science?? Building Games?? Ethical Hacking??
When you identify about three projects you would love to accomplish, then search for the best programming language for that Project.
Android Apps/ Game= Java/c++
Machine Learning/ Artificial intelligence/Cyber Security =Python
Statistics/ Engineering/Academic Analysis = R/MATLAB
Web Applications = Javascript/ Python
lt goes on and on.

A medical student could learn Python for the purpose of deep learning to predict cancer( Python is the best language for this), after learning the basics, he/ she could just install Tensor Flow for deep learning and begin to see how to solve problems regarding cancer.
While trying to solve problems, if the medical student do not understand most of the codes used, he could then go back to research about that particular aspect and then continue trying to solve the problem.

lf like me, you learn Python for Data Science, then after 1 week of learning the basics, immediately install Pandas and begin to master the Pandas library in Python, do not wait until you understand all the basics, rather always refer back to the basics as you try solving the data science problem with Pandas and numpy library.
etc, etc.

Happy Coding.

koontz:
Is 4 months realistic to learn python for someone in medical field without any knowledge of coding? Be candid sir. I'm thinking of giving coding a trial.

Yeah it is, even two months is realistic if you do it the right way, and by that l mean: Just learn the basics like...List, Loops, Functions, Dictionaries, String Formatting and Operators, then begin a project of your choice, while trying to accomplish that project, you'll find yourself going back to the basics from time to time, and learning other stuffs along the way.
Don't waste time on the basics or theory, spend more time on a project even if you feel you know nothing.