₦airaland Forum

Mine:
Java -> Multithreading Programming And Annotations
In Java even after watching the videos, I was still confused especially that multithreading programming. I had to download this books(Java concurrency I practice; The art of multiprocessor programming; and Concurrency in Java and design principles and pattern) and they really helped me a lot. But it was hard I had to spend hours (12 -> 13 hours) studying and practicing everyday, I worked like a beaver that period. It wasn't easy but it paid off.

C Language -> Pointers and I/O + Operating System.
Dealing with pointers in C initially was confusing but I practiced a lot in C and with time I mastered it. I used three to four textbooks and it was so stressful. Operating systems offed me especially when I was studying about processes, pipes and schedulers etc. men! This one rendered me speechless.

*Gives mic to the ftc*

cc lalasticlala

I learnt recently that most people often use the terms web design and web development interchangeably. So today I'm going to show you guys how Web design is different from web development.
There are two primary jobs involved in creating a website: the web designer and web developer, who often work closely together on a website. The web designers are responsible for the visual aspect, which includes the layout, coloring and typography of a web page. Web designers will also have a working knowledge of markup languages such as HTML and CSS, although the extent of their knowledge will differ from one web designer to another. Particularly in smaller organizations, one person will need the necessary skills for designing and programming the full web page, while larger organizations may have a web designer responsible for the visual aspect alone.

WEB DESIGN:
The term "web design" is normally used to describe the design process relating to the front-end (client side) design of a website including writing markup. The different areas of web design include web graphic design; user interface design (UI design); authoring, including standardized code and proprietary software; user experience design (UX design); and search engine optimization.

Tools and technologies:
Web designers use a variety of different tools depending on what part of the production process they are involved in. These tools are updated over time by newer standards and software but the principles behind them remain the same. Web designers use both vector and raster graphics editors to create web-formatted imagery or design prototypes. Technologies used to create websites include W3C standards like HTML and CSS, which can be hand-coded or generated by WYSIWYG editing software. Other tools web designers might use include mark up validators and other testing tools for usability and accessibility to ensure their websites meet web accessibility guidelines.

Skills and techniques:
1] Marketing and communication design
2] User experience design and interactive design(UX/UI)
3] Motion graphics
4] Quality of code
5] Responsive web design (RWD)
6] Adaptive web design (AWD)
7] Progressive enhancement etc

Software:
*Adobe Photoshop
*Adobe Illustrator
*Sketch (software)
*Affinity Designer
*Inkscape

Occupations:
1] Graphic designers to create visuals for the site such as logos, layouts and buttons
2] Internet marketing specialists to help maintain web presence through strategic solutions on targeting viewers to the site, by using marketing and promotional techniques on the internet
3] SEO writers to research and recommend the correct words to be incorporated into a particular website and make the website more accessible and found on numerous search engines
4] Internet copywriter to create the written content of the page to appeal to the targeted viewers of the site
5] User experience (UX) designer incorporates aspects of user-focused design considerations which include information architecture, user-centered design, user testing, interaction design, and occasionally visual design.



WEB DEVELOPMENT:
Among Web professionals, "Web development" usually refers to the main non-design aspects of building Web sites: writing markup and coding. Web development may use content management systems (CMS) to make content changes easier and available with basic technical skills.
There are three kinds of Web developer specialization: front-end developer, back-end developer, and full-stack developer. Front-end developers are responsible for behavior and visuals that run in the user browser, while back-end developers deal with the servers.
There are many open source tools for Web development such as BerkeleyDB, GlassFish, LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack and Perl/Plack.

Skill Required:
[1]HTML/XHTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery.
[2]Server/client side architecture like all or some of the above mentioned.
[3]Programming/Coding/Scripting in one of the many server-side languages or frameworks (e.g., Perl, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, CFML - ColdFusion, Java
[4]ASP, ASP.NET, Node.js)
[5]Ability to utilize a database
[6]Creating single page application with use of front-end tools such as EmberJS, ReactJS or AngularJS

In conclusion Web Design has to do with the visual aspect of a website or web app (UI/UX) while web development has to do with both the front and server side of a website/web app.

Thank You Nairalanders!.

j

bot101:
Wow! Wow!! A lot of misinformation going on here. There is nothing like AJAX developer, and AJAX is not a programming language. It is a part of the JavaScript language and its specification. This post is a boatload of trash. Learn JavaScript well enough (while at it, also learn to use AJAX), then you can come teach others. You obviously copy pasted text from the era when AJAX was the hype of the internet, and going by the rate at which internet technologies evolve and innovate, that's the stone age.

U don catch am lol!!!

mariga:
No dey give me unnecessary mention. Better edit that nonsense

Sorry sir, pesin no fit joke again.... Boss!!!

I think say u be mariga! See How i come rush d thread.

To be honest with U guys Messi is tired of Barcelona ooo....

One thing I noticed in barca nowadays is that Messi don't want to score again. He wants to give other people the opportunities to shine. I really love the guy.

progeek37:
With all these questions...which programming language should a beginner start with. Many people people have given wonderful advise. I would like to add my view as well. What I will say here may be debatable but I will advise you to consider giving my thought a little chance. I will start by saying that no programming language is actually bad to start with if you are determined to face the challenges that your chosen language may pose.
However don't start with C or C++. You will learn them later.

I would strongly advise beginners to start programming with Java or C#. Python would be another option, but its off-rule syntax can be troublesome...the use of indentation to define scope and block instead of usual curly brace. Also its object oriented programming has some flaws(not technically but syntatically)...especially the encapsulation of data with underscores. Python may be highly human readable and easy to write as well...you may write codes faster in Python than in Java or C# but in large scales applications such fastness is not actually needed because software developers usually are willing to sacrifice immense time working and collaborating with teams to build projects...I mean they are willing to sacrifice any amount of time to build the projects.
Also Python is not strongly typed as Java and C# because of its dynamically typed unlike Java's statically typed, this can lead to problems in code maintenance by other developers. Consider these lines of code in Python:

Assuming there is an array(list) already defined as book_list(for Python) or bookList (for Java)

def exist(book, index):
if index < 0 or index >= len(book_list):
#report an error
else:
if book_list[index] == book:
return True
return False

The code snippet is actually good, I tried to use variables that correctly portrait their functions in the program to maintain a self-documenting code. But there lies some problems in the code. First when other developers are working on such code, the questions that may arise are:

1 What does this function return?(we actually need to work through the function to understand) but what if we actually want to reference the function? Therefore we will be forced to study the whole function to understand it.

2 What does the type "book" belong to? Is it an integer, a string or programmers defined type(object).

Let me rewrite the function(method) code in Java:

public boolean exist(Book book, int index)
{
if(index < 0 || index >= bookList.length)
{
//report an error;
}else
{
if(bookList[index].equals(book)
{
return true;
}

}
return false;
}

Obviously Java is better! So is C#!

Here in Java snippet, from the very beginning of the method declaration we understand that the method is available to be used in other classes because it was declared with the keyword "public", also we learn that it will return a "boolean" type and that it accepts a user defined "book object" and an "integer index".

So despite all the noise from Python communities, Java is undoubtedly better. Python is a great language but I would not encourage beginners to start with it as against Java or C#, because Python does not follow the usual sytnax rule which almost all programming languages adopt. That does not mean it is bad anyway. But as a beginner you need to understand what majority of languages have in common because you will be working with many other languages not just few like Python later in your career.

There are many more things to talk about. Think about OOP in Java or C# or the likes, if we want to encapsulate data so that other classes may not modify it. You simply encapsulate it with the keyword "private" you only have to provide a public method or property to allow other classes to access the data the way you want it to be accessed. In Python you use underscores instead something that can be mistakenly ignored. Also internally Python changes the name of a class member with a name that begins with double underscores by prefixing it with a single underscore followed by the class name. Hence Python does not provide a way to truly protect members from the outside world.

Another language is JavaScript, it is an absolutely bad language to start with. It gives beginners bad programming habit. It is not well structured and its oop is not natural. Many of its features were provided as add-ons , as much as possible avoid starting programming with JavaScript. Many people who started with JavaScript are apt to focus their entire life on front-end development. Many of them (I'm talking from my own experience with them in Nigeria) have vague understanding of Object Oriented principles. I have not met a JavaScript programmer who has accurate understanding of objects.

So in my view, I prioritize the following in that order:

1 Java
2 C#
3 Python


Leave your suggestions and views; I will try to reply as much as I can.

But I started with C. Initially it was tough but with time I pickt it up. The main reason why I learnt C is just to understand the fundamentals and the working process of DATA STRUCTURES and it opened my eye unlike python that has predefined methods for handling some operations on some data structures. C also unlocked my ability in getting solutions to solve problems in steps�. I learnt alot from C such as how memory is allocated for variable and other data structures, how to manipulate bits (packing multiple characters in an integer), how to handle files and I get to know more about program processes (how the child interacts with the parent processes). In summary C has a lot of packages but we all want to build things without understanding how it interacts with our machine. My advice to noobs out there, start with C++ not C, it has all the packages you need (Systems programming + OOP),it you really need to know it for competitive programming.

Nature just find ways to keep us busy all the time after BBN, #ENDSARS come follow, now na scatter scatter Revolution dey on point. Nairaland front page will never be scarce this time.

Maj196:
Classic... I can relate with the image

Abi LOL

I really love this man. Daddy Oyedepo don endorse am too!

How the young, old, learned n illiterates in Nairaland rush to book space still baffles me....LOL.

ayusco85:
Can u just shut up. Must u comment self?

Can't u face ur face keyboard. Must u mention me?

Taofeekdboy:
Though everyone is opinionated but for the second paragraph saying python is not a language of the future is what I can disagree on.
Python has been topping the list of the best programming languages for years and still revelant and hotcake in tech industry till this moment. Though, some people do say it is very slow but I don't think it is totally true because every language has its weakness and strength.
C++, Java and the likes all have their weaknesses. Java is not secured but that doesn't make it not suitable.
I have been using python for web development,
Machine learning and so far I haven't encountered its slowness on web development.
Maybe desktop applications or mobile app development but it does not make it a language not for the future.

U talk java is not secured? Lies from the pit of hell, why is it used for enterprise development if it's not secured. Banks, schools and other finance institutions use java because it's one of the most secured language out there.

Sister lemme be honest with you, your own case na village people cause am. It sounds abnormal to me (Ur dad n bro died from police bullet). Ur case is beyond #ENDSARS.

SegFault:
Thank you, I love the way you shut him up. C is a versatile language and all those languages he is advising you to use cannot do without c last last, all languages have their own specialities but c is more versatile.

I don't think so. bro but it gave birth to other languages.

airsaylongcom:
Would you say a surgeon knowledgeable in how to perform open surgery is a better surgeon than one who is skilled at keyhole surgery? There's no such thing as a "better programmer". You are skilled in the use of the tools you decide to use (C/C++). Someone else may be skilled using LISP. Different problem areas, different tools

No doubt, but I only know the reason I'm learning it right now sir.
airsaylongcom

airsaylongcom:
Why do we pride on difficult things in this country? What value does it add?

And why do Nigerian software guys always want to reinvent the wheel?

It's not about taking pride in difficult things, it's grabbing the hidden treasure there. Professional programmers often say that a programmer that has a knowledge of c/c++ is always a better programmer. So I just don't want to be a programmer, I wanna be a good programmer.
*cheers*

Bahat:
Well done job bro. I see your code consist of those functions advised not to be used in coding anymore they are vulnerable. When dealing with C remember to read security blogs for latest news about their vulnerable functions.

wow thanks! but the program is just for fun

valzey:
This is impressive, but it's time you left C and learn a more applicable language else you'll waste your time reinventing the wheel and still jobless.

You should leave console applications now, especially with C and learn real platforms which are way more complex than a single language such as mobile dev, Web dev, desktop dev, game dev... etc because there are more complex data types and skills to grasp that matter and time is precious.

At your level now, your problem solving skill will be high level and you've learnt all that C can offer you i.e how to implement solutions from scratch.

Continue only if you you want to be an embedded systems developer.

Ya that's my plan but I learned C as my first language bcus i wanted have deep knowledge of operating systems, pointers, data structures etc.
Learning C as a first language will also make other PL easier to learn. I LEARNT PROGRAMMING THE HARD WAY!

spartan117:
Very nice project. Is there any plan to build a GUI for the frontend?

Yah but it will be 2022

SegFault:
My problem is that I'm fond of setting projects higher than myself, first I wanted to write a compiler that one I've suspended it for now, then I am currently writing a virtual machine like the jvm to run virtual code for a new language I would like to make in the future though it's not now I started it, it's a long time ago, I tried to write a command line messenger like whatsapp using socket programming after sometime I dumped it, then I thought of making a forum that had better features than stackoverflow I believe I will do this one sometime in the future, I need to learn web development in depth and I need people who are willing to create this revolutionary forum (it's open source)

Wow that's nice... bro one thing with this is that the more you create problems n solve the more you learn. Start small, maybe the command-line messenger program

It's a very nice program it interacts with cmd-line interface.

SegFault:
So people get mind to finish projects like this. I never finish projects I set for myself, most are still pending.

Better try and finish them... I wrote this since April and since then I have finished lots of 'em. These projects will really help you sharpen your software dev skills.

After the voting process, the program displays the final result of the election!

So nairalanders shebi I tried?

Image 1: After the political and voters registration process the program now asks you to start voting.

image2/3: The screen clears up(Thanks to the line of code: system("clear"; ) taking you to the voters section. If the voter is present then can cast his vote but if he's absent it moves to the next voter.

Image 4: When you choose statistics it brings out the current statistics of the election.

Now this is the output of the program.
Image 1: The admin section asks the admin to input the administrative passcode.. if you input a wrong passcode it will ask you to insert the correct one(do-while did a very good job here).

Image 2/3: After inserting the correct passcode a menu pops out asking you to register parties.

image 4: Registering the party.

Note: I failed to use unbuffered input for the menu while writing the program so in other to select a menu you need to type the menu number and the press enter(buffered input). in unbuffered input you just need to press the menu number and every other thing will be history!

The program consumed 275 lines of code and it's going to consume a lot more because I am planning to improve the program.

UPCOMING IMPROVEMENTS:
1) The statistics and results of the election will be written to a text file instead.(This will gulp about 40 lines of code).
2)The information of each voters will be written to a binary file. Such as name, age, reg_no etc. which can be read into the program.
3)A sort engine that will sort an array of structure holding the voters info according to age(The elderly gets to vote first).
4)The information of each parties written to a binary file.
AND
5) Making all menu selection unbuffered input( Tired of pressing enter key all the time)

With these improvements the program will gulp another maybe 300+ lines of codes.

I would like to challenge other upcoming programmers here to write this simple project using other languages(java, python, c++, etc) !
You will learn a lot while writing the program.

And I also need your advice on how to improve the program and the readability of the codes!

Good afternoon nairalanders. I am Enoch. The idea to write this program came while in the school library(Nnamdi Azikiwe University). I used simple programming concepts to write the program and it was a success. The voting system consist of two sections:
(1) The admin section - Where political parties or candidates(if Political parties are not involved) are registered and the number of voters that will participate in the election is entered.
(2)The Voter Section - Where the voters can now cast there votes.

I broke the program into functions in other to improve it readability and efficiency. I implemented a lot of functions such as those that display menus, registered political parties, statistics, date/time, winner, results etc. and also the ones that sorts the political parties according to number of votes that they have earned(Insertion Sort algorithm) and the one that searches for the political party with the highest vote count(Linear Search Algorithm) and calculates the results in percentages etc.

It took me a lot of time to write especially when I was trying to manage the memory of the program(arrays and stuffs).
The Program took me 9 days to write (2 days to plan, 2 days to be developed and 5 days to debug). I encountered lots of errors(few syntax errors and lots of logical/runtime errors).