I think some posters are missing the main point about why programming is beneficial not just for critical thinking based tasks such as playing poker but would just improve day to day life because studying CS or Engineering teaches you how to think in an efficient way. To me the most important parts about learning how to code are the important prerequisites such as introduction to logic, machine state, flow and class diagrams, algorithms, data structures etc. A program can be implemented in several different ways, from elegant object oriented to spaghetti nested if/else code.



My advice to anyone who is interested in learning how to code to just not google "learn how to write code". MIT offers free online courses, take the time to study the fundamentals. That will also give you an idea of what type of coding would best suit you. There are a lot of different languages and industries that have their own nuances when it comes to programming skill sets.

I taught myself last year, just so I could make a poker software program. Its actually a lot of fun.

I did a ton of these for practice, just linking it cuz anyone who wants to learn to code will prolly enjoy doing these like I did.

http://projecteuler.net/

Yea I`m doing a masters in it myself. My advice would be to have a look at the free online courses first and progress from there- just seems to be a very exciting field and is far more of a meritocracy than most other industries, as mentioned in that article.

Ok....so if I do this, I learn to think better? I understand poker better maybe?

the projecteuler talks about math.

I'm assuming there is a lot of math to this. I was good in math at school but that was just after Moses came down the mountain. I've struggled with math in poker. Would I have the same problem here? or would this help me out?
Thanks in advance.

I believe they turned it down and now theyre all hacked up. Smart guys.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/break...010309114.html

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/01/tech/s...snapchat-hack/

most people on this forum are not smart enough to add two numbers together, they shouldn't strain themselves trying to learn computer science

2+2=4

Can someone here please give me just a short summary on Code/Coding? Reason i ask, is because i have been job searching here in Ireland Poker related and there are a good few popping up 'Love poker? Love to code? Apply now!'

So if anyone with any knowledge could give me a quick reply its much appreciated. Thanks very much!

programming is infinitely useful but i find it sort of boring

benplasser, what was your screen name?

People should learn to code

But I see no relevance / link to poker, it doesn't make any sense...

I went to the Jethro Bodine School of Higher Math were 2+2+5.

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/U.../Jethro_Bodine

this is off topic but im interested in some of the online courses that were discussed. Do you guys have a favorite? who offers the best courses etc?

I may click around on my own to see what I can find and I already know of a few. Ive wanted to challenge myself with a course in the past but have failed to do so. I want to take some introductory courses though damnit!

i see that many of them require a textbook, is this common? I dont want to buy $200 textbooks but again, i will see whats out there. any help here as a whole or point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated? Can i find these textbooks dirt cheap anywhere?

You could try www.codeacademy.com it's free

Stanford CS department has basic coding classes on YouTube. Starts with Java, not sure how deep it goes.

http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/

Great resource for learning python that I discovered after this thread sparked my interest in programming. Would be great if op or any other knowledgeable developers would do an AMA in oot or some other forum.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/191/programming/

Programming is as likely to become a "middle class job" as architecture. There is a huge difference between someone who's able to write a few lines of code to do a menial task, a "script kiddie", or an html writer, and someone who can design systems that run efficiently, effectively are produced in a timely fashion and last decades.

Half my 20 year career as a programmer was involved in coming in and cleaning up the muck some shmuck who "learned to code" left behind, taking processes that took 11 hours to run and converting them into processes that took 2-3 minutes, and so forth.

Now had the author suggested not "learning to code" but "learning logic" - that would have been a sentiment I could get behind.

+1

So many people think that CS is magic. That someone snaps their fingers (or does one CodeAcademy demo) and writes a "killer app." Good software architecture takes YEARS AND YEARS to learn. The ability to build a complex, dynamic system is not trivial, and never will be. People who learn the design software will. e in demand for a long time, friends.

It should also be understood that coding is not for everyone. You need a certain mind to be able to do it, just as you need certain talents to be a good artist or actor. Some people just lack certain abilities.

It doesn't always correspond to intelligence.

Many brilliant doctors and lawyers would be terrible at programming, and in fact some outright couldn't learn it beyond the very very basics.

At the same time, many good programmers were poor students in school, and I knew people in my computer science classes who flunked the math courses repeatedly despite being whizzes with computers.

Now, the greatest indicator that you could be a programmer is your ability to do "logic" type of problems. If you can do those, your chance of learning programming successfully is pretty good, if you put the time into it.

And as someone who worked in software development for 8 years, I can tell you that it's not as fun as it looks, unless you actually love the projects you're doing. I'm talking about if you're working for someone else. If you work for yourself, then yes, it's fun, but it's often tough to monetize, especially these days when VC money is a lot tighter.

thanks so much for the expert coding and programming advice

coming from someone who 'coded' a website that looks like it was build by an 8 year old child

Thanks for sharing

For those who are not aware - creating a website is not coding. It's graphic design. Learning HTML is not coding either.

Coding, from a web perspective, starts with Javascript, or PHP, or Perl, or ASP.NET (or even ASP if you like dinosaurs).

I can make controls on a web page sit up and beg for mercy with asynch callbacks and functional overrides, but when I design a web page's look and feel, it looks just about like an 8 year old did it as well. That's why we hire graphic artists for page design.

Wat??? (See UoA papers)

I've always been interested in coding, always sucked at it, never had time to put in the time. I agree that it's probably about as close to the stone cold nuts in terms of career path that anyone could choose if you're the entrepreneurial type.

Um - no not really.

Entrepreneurial types generally are not built for programming, and few strong programmers have the business acumen to actually run a business.

People who are good at one particular skill and try to run a business based on that skill frequently fail because running a business uses about 19 other skills OTHER than the one depending on your ability to make a product.