Priority of learning programming craft and other suggestions

Question

Hello,

As I am in my starting career year in software development (C++ & C#) I now see my flaws and what I miss in this sphere. Because of that I came into some conclusions and made myself a plan to fill those gaps and increase my knowledge in software development. But the question I stumbled upon after making a tasks which I need to do has not quite obvious answer to me. What is the priority of those tasks? Here are these tasks and my priority by numbering:

Learning:

1. Functional programming (Scala)
2. Data structures & Algorithms (Cormen book to the rescue + TopCoder/ProjectEuler/etc)
3. Design patterns (GOF or Head First)

Do you agree with this tasks and priorities? Or do I miss something here? Any suggestions are welcome!

Answer 1

Depends entirely on what you're doing.

I'd tailor which one you learn first to what would help you the most with your current job.

Answer 2

Data structures and algorithms will help you no matter what language you use. I'd work on it first. Then design patterns (any OOP language will benefit from them). Functional programming is nice, but not necessarily a top priority.

Answer 3

If would think Functional Programming would be low in priority since the languages you use are OO in nature, I would think spending some time in Design Patterns and on the specifics of the language itself would be more useful.

I read both GOF and HeadFirst, HeadFirst is probably the easier and more fun of the 2 but much thicker. You should probably look at Enterprise Design Patterns, like Martin Fowler's page http://martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/

What field do you think you will work in? Games ? Web? That will probably decide how important the Algo part would be for.

Answer 4

I would say that you first need to understand (even if not remember) the base algorithms and data structures. (use Knuth and Cormen), then get to learn architecture (design patterns are here.).. Functional programming is just one type of programming and is mandatory. There are many great programmers that are not using functional programming, but I assume that for all kinds you must first know the basics- algorithms and data structures.

Answer 5

Write lots of code. Try to do it better every time. Occasionally work with more senior people, who can provide guidance praise and gentle correction.

Answer 6

I'd say #2 goes first, especially if you are planning to use C++/C# at work, having a good command of data structures and algorithms will give you some edge. I see #1 and #3 as somewhat parallel paths, but I do have a couple of suggestions: start with the Head First book for patterns, the GOF is more like a reference book and also the notation and language may get quite abstruse. As for functional programming, may I suggest Clojure instead of Scala? I'm convinced that a "functional-first" language (like F# or Clojure) will force you to think functional (a good thing) instead of just patching your O-O/imperative skills.

Answer 7

I think you have it backwards. Start with design patterns, which will help you reduce the amount messy code you produce, and understand better code made by other people (particularly libraries written with design patterns in mind).

In addition to the book of four, there are many other design pattern books -- Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture, for example. It might be worth looking at them after you get a good grounding. But I also highly recommend Domain Driven Design, which I think gives you a way of thinking about how to structure your program, instead of just identifying pieces here and there.

Next you can go with algorithms. I prefer Skiena's The Algorithm Design Manual, whose emphasis is more on getting people to know how to select and use algorithms, as well as building them from well known "parts" than on getting people to know to make proofs about algorithms. It is also available for Kindle, which was useful to me.

Also, get a good data structures book -- people often neglect that. I like the Handbook of Data Structures and Applications, though I'm also looking into Advanced Data Structures.

However, I cannot recommend either TopCoder or Euler for this task. TopCoder is, imho, mostly about writing code fast. Nothing bad about it, but it's hardly likely to make a difference on day-to-day stuff. If you like it, by all means do it. Also, it's excellent preparation for job interviews with the more technically minded companies.

Project Euler, on the other hand, is much more targeted at scientific computing, computer science and functional programming. It will be an excellent training ground when learning functional programming.

There's something that has a bit of design patterns, algorithms and functional programming, which is Elements of Programming. It uses C++ for its examples, which is a plus for you.

As for functional programming, I think it is less urgent than the other two. However, I indicate either Clojure or Haskell instead of Scala.

Learning functional programming in Scala is like learning Spanish in a latino neighborhood, while learning functional programming in Clojure is like learning Spanish in Madrid, and learning functional programming in Haskell is like learning Spanish in an isolated monastery in Spain. :-)

Mind you, I prefer Scala as a programming language, but I already knew FP when I came to it.

When you do get to functional programming, get Chris Okasaki's Purely Functional Data Structures, for a good grounding on algorithms and data structures for functional programming.

Beyond that, try to learn a new language every year. Even if not for the language itself, you are more likely to keep up to date with what people are doing nowadays.

Answer 8

Hi, I think that in general the topics that you have picked are very important, and my give you the chance to do something more than the usual boring stuff. However, I believe that the order should be something like this:

1. Data structures & Algorithms
2. Functional programming
3. Software Design
4. Specific technologies you need

My opinion is that Algorithms and data structures should be first. It is very hard to study algorithms if you have a lot of other things in you head (good coding practices, lots of programming paradigms, etc.). Also with time, people tend to become more lazy, and lose the patience to get into the ideas of this complex matter. On the other hand, missing some fundamental understanding about how things can be represented or operate, may lead to serious flaws in understanding anything more sophisticated. So, assuming that you have some ideas about imperative programming (the usual stuff tаught in the introductory courses) you should enhance your knowledge with algorithms and data structures.

It is important to have at least basic understanding of other paradigms. Functional programming is a good example. You may also consider getting familiar with logic programming. Having basic understanding of Algorithms and Data Structures will help you a lot in understanding how such languages work. I don't know whether Scala is the best language for that purpose, but will probably do. Alternatively, you can pick something more classic like Lisp, or Scheme. Haskell is also an interesting language.

About the Design Patterns... knowing design patterns will help you in doing object oriented design, but you should be aware, that design patterns are just a set of solutions to popular problems. Knowing Design Patterns is by no means that same as knowing how to design software. In order to improve you software design skills you should study other materials too. A good example from where you can get understanding about these concepts is the book Code Complete, or the MIT course 6.170 (its materials are publicly available).

At some point you will need to get into the details of a specific framework (or frameworks) that you will need for what you do. Keep in mind, that such frameworks change, and you should be able to adapt, and learn new technologies. For instance, knowing ASP.NET MVC now, may be worthless 5 years from now (or may not be, who knows?).

Finally, keep in mind, that no matter what you read, you need to practice a lot, which means solving problems, writing code, designing software, etc. Most of these concepts can not be easily explained, or even expressed with words, so you will need to reach most of them by yourself, (that is, you will need to reinvent the wheel many times).

Good luck with your career!