RE: Computer science textbooks
- From: "Sina Bahram" <sbahram@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 03:03:55 -0400
I don't think that theory, per say, as much as a strong understanding of the
fundamentals allows you to get very far in programming.
The thing with theory is that it essentially lets you condense all of those
fundamentals down into one phrasing, and so any
programming language or computer instructional technique becomes a simple task
of translating what you know about theory into
practice.
So, I'd say, on the practical side of things, you might have to learn three,
four, maybe five programming languages before it all
just clicks together for you, whereas with theory, you can learn it once, and
then apply it to three, four, five programming
languages in a more full way from day one.
Both are completely valid approaches.
Take care,
Sina
-----Original Message-----
From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of David Tseng
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2011 6:00 PM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Computer science textbooks
Uh...no it's not strictly necessary (I'd bet Sina has a fair bit to say here).
All I can say is that you'd have a far easier time coding the more
theory you have under your belt. I just don't have the time to go
back to grad school (went as far as to apply/visit). With what I'm
working on, I definitely want to brush up on a few things and dive
into other topics of interest (computer vision, AI, Combinatorics ,
etc.).
Anyhow, looks like I'll be purchasing Art of Computer Programming by
Knuth and spending countless hours scanning volumes at the end of
which I'll have crappy diagram access /sarcasm.
On 5/21/11, Katherine Moss <Katherine.Moss@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> But then is it a requirement to know the theoretical side of things just to
> learn to program in X Languages?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of David Tseng
> Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2011 5:42 PM
> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Computer science textbooks
>
> Right, I'm definitely after the theoretical side of things more so than the
> canned set of teach yourself x language type of books.
>
> On 5/21/11, Katherine Moss <Katherine.Moss@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> It also depends upon what you're doing though too. I have tons of
>> resources on the C# programming language, but most of the visuals are
>> just to demonstrate Visual Studio.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of David
>> Tseng
>> Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2011 3:34 PM
>> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: Computer science textbooks
>>
>> Yeah...I love the e-text route (amazing what 24x7 offers as they have
>> books from quite a few publishers like MIT Press, Rocks, Microsoft Press,
>> etc.).
>> Bookshare's one that also has some offerings.
>>
>> However, with all that said, the diagram issue is still what I'm
>> finding lacking without either going the human paid reader/translater
>> strategy or getting something from RFB&D.
>>
>> When you're talking about highly technical algorithms or processes,
>> the visual aid's are worth trying to understand rather than piecing
>> things together from the main textual narrative of the text. Also, if
>> you start getting into any sophisticated mathematical notation, you
>> lose all of that in translation.
>>
>> I guess I could run everything through infty reader, but hoped that
>> there would be some other creative ways people have tackled this issue.
>>
>> On 5/21/11, Ken Perry <whistler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> Another one that I learned all my linux stuff from back in the 90's
>>> is still around. It is books written for computer programmers by
>>> computer programmers.
>>>
>>> http://www.wrox.com
>>>
>>> There is a lot of other places but that is the one off the top of my
>>> head.
>>>
>>> Ken
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Florian
>>> Beijers
>>> Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2011 9:56 AM
>>> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> Subject: Re: Computer science textbooks
>>>
>>> Well,
>>>
>>> THere is
>>> www.bookshare.org
>>> which has books on a variety of subjects. There's some computer
>>> science books but not many, sadly.
>>> Usually when I need a book i try to hunt it down somewhere on the web.
>>> I know i should be crediting the author and apreciating his work and
>>> all that but especially here in Holland it's a royal pain to get
>>> digitized English books or even dutch ones on that subject, apart
>>> from audio which in my opinion just isn't cutting it for this kind of
>>> material.
>>> There is IRC channels devoted to sharing these texts as well.
>>> If you want to go the more legal and conventional route, you could
>>> try obtaining a scanning package that does the job well for books.
>>> For example the iRead Now package by handyTech comes with a camera
>>> that scans a page and does OCr in aproximately five seconds. Now
>>> doing this for 700 pages is a bit outrageous still but you can do it in
>>> chunks.
>>>
>>> I guess thats the only ways I can think of so far.
>>>
>>> Florian
>>> On May 21, 2011, at 3:07 PM, David Tseng wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hey guys,
>>>>
>>>> Curious to know what people do for obtaining accessible texts
>>>> especially *after* finishing a degree. Out of personal interest,
>>>> I'd like to get a few key books on my bookshelf as reference or just
>>>> to deepen my own knowledge of a specific area. Without access to a
>>>> school's lab/resources, I've kind of turned to sources like 24x7,
>>>> Safari, and other technical e-book sites, but have found them very
>>>> lacking wrt selection, and when they do have a book, varying levels
>>>> of access to diagrams. RFB&D's/Learning Alley's also quite lacking
>>>> and listening to CS books can be somewhat mind numbing.
>>>>
>>>> Short of calling up every university out there or employing my own
>>>> diagram to text human translater, what have people done here? I
>>>> know some of us are in industry, so am curious to know.
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