How to Computer Program Bill Smith eBook
Download As PDF : How to Computer Program Bill Smith eBook 
Inside this guide 'How to Computer Program' you will learn-
-The basic skill sets needed to enable you to embark on a career in computer programming.
-Why there are so many vacant positions in the computer programming industry.
-Where to look for computer programming courses.
-The different methods of study that are available to you for computer programming courses.
You will also learn
-The most popular programming languages that are used every day.
-The 10 programming languages you should learn right now!
-A career overview for computer programming.
-The importance of Math for computer programmers.
-The benefits of computer programming in your business.
How to Computer Program Bill Smith eBook
After reading the book and the existing reviews, I can only think the author and most of the existing reviewers really have little or no idea what computer programming is all about.I don't usually write negative reviews, but just couldn't let this one go.
With a title of "How to computer program" I should have known there would be issues, because I can't imagine anyone that actually knows how, that would state it quite that way. More correctly, it should be something more like "How to learn computer programming" or "How to program computers". Either way, it doesn't matter, because the book doesn't actually provide any real information about how to learn computer programming. Suggesting that someone play with open source applications isn't how to learn to program. There are some fundamental concepts that must be learned first, and knowing the particular syntax rules for the language are important before poking about. Starting out by poking at existing open source applications will more likely discourage a person from learning about programming than to encourage them to learn.
Yes, there are some general statements about various languages and perhaps a bit about the need for programmers, but it reads like a loosely collected series of short articles, or a bunch of first paragraphs spun from Wikipedia. The author throws out a list of words that will have absolutely no meaning for a non-programmer, does nothing to explain the descriptions of each language provided, or why the differences may be significant. For example, there is no information provided about the difference between an interpreted scripting language and a compiled language, nor what any of the other buzzwords mean. The concept of a compiler wasn't even brought up.
It was also somewhat repetitive, as about half of the information in Chapter 5 "The 10 programming languages you should learn right now" (PHP, C#, Ajax, JavaScript, Perl, C, ruby, Java, Python, VB.net) was essentially repeated in Chapter 10 "The most popular programming languages to learn" (C, Java, PHP, Javascript).
I seriously doubt the author has the slightest idea how to program in any of the languages he suggests. The book has numerous conceptual errors. Making a sweeping statement like "Java is one of the fastest growing languages and almost every programming job will require that a person know how to use it." is just wrong. I know a bunch of professional programmers that make a nice living without using Java at all, and can't recall the last time I needed to use it, personally or professionally. Which language is used for a programming job is dependent on several factors, not the least of which is what is the most appropriate for the application, or the tools available for the target platform.
If you want a really quick read without any substantive information, this book may be your cup of tea, but I wouldn't expect anyone even slightly interested in programming to get much out of it.
The only reason I gave it 2 stars was because the author tried, and he had a reasonable set of topics. Unfortunately, there wasn't more than a sentence or two about any topic. With a different title and some real information beyond a sentence or two for each topic, it could be turned into a pretty decent book. However, if expanded, it needs to be proofread by someone that knows computer programming to avoid the sort of problems mentioned above.
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How to Computer Program Bill Smith eBook Reviews
Many years ago (think Ataris and Oric!), I was "into" computer programming. In fact I got quite obsessed about it. So I was interested to see this book, and how I might re-kindle my enthusiasm.
Let's be clear. "How to Computer Program" is not what this book is about, though it is a good overall view of the practice. It's an explanation of what computer programming can do for you, and how you can look further into the subject. But of course it can't teach you to program, that's an immense topic, and something that you shouldn't expect to learn from one book. In fact, the author tells you of ten programming languages you should learn right now (Chapter 5), and the most popular programming languages to learn (Chapter 10). Yes, I did feel that some of the topics were a little repetitive, but that's fine if you want to take it in, as I often re-read books to make sure that I have remembered the salient facts.
So this book achieves what can reasonably be expected of one book. If you are interested in computer programming you will undoubtedly need significantly more information, and quite possibly take a course or two, on-line or at a college, as this book will tell you. But "How to Computer Program" will set you on the right path, and allow you to understand what you may need to do to pursue the topic further.
The awkward-sounding title of this book is also a clue that the contents are going to miss the mark as well. This book is not going to teach you how to program a computer.
If this ebook were a computer program, it would crash. There are many misspellings, grammar errors, punctuation errors, and formatting errors; if the author is indeed a programmer, his code must need a lot of debugging. The choice of using greyed fonts in the chapter and section headings make the headings difficult to read on an eInk reader. Quality assurance testing, anyone? QA testing is a must in the world of software development and is a very good thing to do when publishing an ebook too. Again, if the author is a programmer, he should have been aware of this.
The first third of the book is more of an explanation of why it might be a good thing to learn how to "computer program." A lot of the information is repetitive and appears in two and sometimes three sections of the book, sometimes contradicting what has been written elsewhere. Unfortunately a great deal of the information and suggestions are misleading and just plain wrong. Some examples
From Chapter 1 - "What is Computer Programming?" in the section entitled "Programming Language"
the author writes
"When being introduced to programming the two most common languages that are used are Java and Logo. Logo has been around since the seventies and is used in educational settings more than any other programming language."
Putting aside that jumping directly into Java as a first language is a mistake for a beginner, the Logo language certainly is not a commonly used first language these days. It was originally used over 30 years ago in elementary schools for children to manipulate simple graphics. It was not taught then or now as a introductory programming language for students in a computer science or information systems learning environment. Spending time learning this unstructured, limited use language would not benefit someone planning on becoming a programmer with commercially marketable skills.
From Chapter 5 - "The 10 Programming Languages You Should Learn Right Now" the ten languages listed are all web-based except C. The author never bothers to explain the technical terminology he uses to describe these languages, terms such as "open-source," "interpretive," "object oriented," "cross-platform," and "CGI." There is no glossary in the book to help a beginner decipher any of these and similar terms used. That aside, the suggested list of languages would limit the student to doing web-based programming. I also disagree with his contention that Java should be the first programming language used. More on this later.
From Chapter 9 - "Where to Find Jobs as a Computer Programmers[sic]" contains a lot of information about where the author believes there are jobs, claiming that "there is still a high demand for programmers." There is no mention anywhere about the reality of the situation with off-shore outsourcing of programming jobs or the H1B visa. I won't get into the politics of it in this review, but anyone interested can do searches to find out more about these issues and how they affect technical jobs. I do have to roll my eyes at statements such as "Almost every piece of equipment in a medical setting is not programmed to perform its duties."
From Chapter 11 - "How Long Will It Take to Train & Ongoing Education" he writes
"Adding new programming languages to your resume is a great way to increase your chances of getting a job. There are hundreds and possible thousands of programming languages out there and learning as many as possible is recommended."
Before anyone tries to learn a few dozen programming languages you should know that it's not only the knowledge of a language which will get you hired, but commercial experience in *using* that language, often on a specific operating system or hardware suite and even in a specific industry.
In spite of what the author recommends, you can't just teach yourself a few programming languages and hope to get hired. Nor will a certificate from an online school get you past the hiring manager. You need talent, ability, proper training, and then experience to build a career in the technical field these days. Proper training means hands-on study from a certified community college, school, or university. You will also need a good grounding in areas other than just coding such as data structures, computer architecture, design principles, and databases.
If you do want to learn something about programming without committing to paying a lot in tuition and attending classes, I'd recommend that you start with simple HTML programming. All you need to get started are a text editor (such as WordPad or KWrite) and a web browser. A introductory book in HTML would be helpful in getting familiar with the structure of the language and standards. Build and test a few web pages to see if you enjoy the challenge of writing and debugging code. Once you're comfortable with that environment, add in a new element such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to your HTML, then later add in Javascript or PHP. If you're still interested after all of that work and study, try your hand at a compiled language such as C and more complex programs.
Who am I to make recommendations? Someone who has been there and done that over thirty years ago and has worked in the software development field at all levels from programmer to project manager.
If you decide to go the route of learning to program computers, I wish you the best of luck. But you won't be successful if you try to do so by following the recommendations in this ebook.
After reading the book and the existing reviews, I can only think the author and most of the existing reviewers really have little or no idea what computer programming is all about.
I don't usually write negative reviews, but just couldn't let this one go.
With a title of "How to computer program" I should have known there would be issues, because I can't imagine anyone that actually knows how, that would state it quite that way. More correctly, it should be something more like "How to learn computer programming" or "How to program computers". Either way, it doesn't matter, because the book doesn't actually provide any real information about how to learn computer programming. Suggesting that someone play with open source applications isn't how to learn to program. There are some fundamental concepts that must be learned first, and knowing the particular syntax rules for the language are important before poking about. Starting out by poking at existing open source applications will more likely discourage a person from learning about programming than to encourage them to learn.
Yes, there are some general statements about various languages and perhaps a bit about the need for programmers, but it reads like a loosely collected series of short articles, or a bunch of first paragraphs spun from Wikipedia. The author throws out a list of words that will have absolutely no meaning for a non-programmer, does nothing to explain the descriptions of each language provided, or why the differences may be significant. For example, there is no information provided about the difference between an interpreted scripting language and a compiled language, nor what any of the other buzzwords mean. The concept of a compiler wasn't even brought up.
It was also somewhat repetitive, as about half of the information in Chapter 5 "The 10 programming languages you should learn right now" (PHP, C#, Ajax, JavaScript, Perl, C, ruby, Java, Python, VB.net) was essentially repeated in Chapter 10 "The most popular programming languages to learn" (C, Java, PHP, Javascript).
I seriously doubt the author has the slightest idea how to program in any of the languages he suggests. The book has numerous conceptual errors. Making a sweeping statement like "Java is one of the fastest growing languages and almost every programming job will require that a person know how to use it." is just wrong. I know a bunch of professional programmers that make a nice living without using Java at all, and can't recall the last time I needed to use it, personally or professionally. Which language is used for a programming job is dependent on several factors, not the least of which is what is the most appropriate for the application, or the tools available for the target platform.
If you want a really quick read without any substantive information, this book may be your cup of tea, but I wouldn't expect anyone even slightly interested in programming to get much out of it.
The only reason I gave it 2 stars was because the author tried, and he had a reasonable set of topics. Unfortunately, there wasn't more than a sentence or two about any topic. With a different title and some real information beyond a sentence or two for each topic, it could be turned into a pretty decent book. However, if expanded, it needs to be proofread by someone that knows computer programming to avoid the sort of problems mentioned above.
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