Letter of the week (and my response) January 24, 2009

I received this email the other day---it illustrates the desire on the part of inexperienced people to learn programming. Check out the email and my response which is quite lengthy

Hello,

I was looking around for C# classes and was wondering what the difference was between Introduction to Visual C#---Any Version (8 weeks) vs. Introduction to C# using the .Net Batch compiler (8 weeks).

Would there be any discounts for students like me?

Do you also have any testimonials that these classes do help?

I really want to learn C# and am looking for something that would help me easily.

I have no prior experience in programming. I'm looking forward to your reply. Thank you.

My Repsonse

Hi J

Thanks for your interest in my classes!

The difference in the two courses is the course textbook I use--both of which I have written.
Intro to C# uses a book I wrote a few years ago which concentrates on learning C# using the C# Batch compiler.

Visual C# uses a book I recently wrote using C# Express, which is a Visual Tool.

Both courses are good, and you'll learn fundamental C# programming, but you'll learn more about creating your own objects (and what that means) in the C# Batch compiler class.

However, learning C# in the batch compiler world is harder than Visual C#.

Why have you chosen C# as your first programming language?

Unfortunately, I don't offer discounts to students, only active duty military.

Somewhere on my website I'm sure I have some accolades about my classes, but those naturally come from happy students, and I can be a bit more objective.

Students who do well in my Internet courses tend to be those who are independent.
As you can imagine, if we met 3 hours per week in a classroom, it would be a bit easier than using my electronic classroom to communicate (although I hope to have Webcam options available soon).

This much I can guarantee you---if you are serious about learning to program, and put in the time (about 10 hours per week for reading, working on assignments, etc), are willing to post questions and comments in my electronic classroom, you will know how to program when you finish the course. That doesn't mean you will be an expert, or will get a job in programming, but it does mean you are on your way.

From that point on, you can continue to learn C# on your own or continue with me in some other courses.

Programming is a big world--depending upon what you want to learn and do, your learning path can be a year or much longer.

On the other hand, if you are an impatient person, one who gets very frustrated when things don't work the first time, then my courses are probably not right for you.

I can't be with you all the time while you are coding your first program---and if you deal with programming errors as a sign that you are a failure, instead of a challenge, the programming world may not be for you.

I still remember my first COBOL programming attempt---over 4,000 errors on my first compile. I felt pretty low.

I corrected a single mispelling on one line of code, and the number went down to 2,000. I thought to myself, this is pretty cool.

I corrected another error---down to 1,000.

You get the point.

Within 10 minutes, I had reduced my errors from over 4,000 to about 28.

Of course, it took me about two days to correct the remaining 28 errors, but I did, and all time I was thinking this is the greatest way to spend my time.

I've been doing that ever since for 32 years.

So, if you are the type of person who sees a challenge in an error message from a computer, and not a reason to smack the keyboard (well, we all do that from time to time) then programming is for you, and my courses may be right for you also.

In an ideal environment, I would be with you in a classroom--but even though my Internet courses are remote, that doesn't mean you are alone.

I hope this helps you with your decision.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Have a great day!

John Smiley