C/C++ Tutor Needed in Chuck Co.

[stgislander]

I'm trying to help out a friend in Chuck Co. His son is a freshman in Engineering at UMd College Park. He's taking his first programming course ever (C/C++) and is failing miserably. To the point that scholarships could be effected. Otherwise, he's a straight A student. Being he's brand new to programming, my guess he's either having issues with pointers or the object-oriented aspect of C++.

If somebody knows somebody in Chuck Co that can help this young man salvage a passing grade, let me know and I'll pass the info on.

 

[GURPS]

Time for a reevaluation programming is not for everyone

 

[stgislander]

Time for a reevaluation programming is not for everyone

That's just it. He doesn't want to be a programmer. Sounds like a freshman Engineering requirement at UMd.

 

[GURPS]

That's just it. He doesn't want to be a programmer. Sounds like a freshman Engineering requirement at UMd.

Oh F ... that sucks

I wish I could help, is he not picking up process, has he looked on YouTube ?

 

[stgislander]

Oh F ... that sucks

I wish I could help, is he not picking up process, has he looked on YouTube ?

His dad says YouTube is not much help to him,

 

[Clem72]

His dad says YouTube is not much help to him,

Khan Academy used to be the go-to for online programming instruction. Now everything is gamified.

Honestly, the way they dumb everything down now days I'm not surprised someone smart enough for engineering is having trouble with the tutorials and learning materials that are developed for "dummies". No, we won't explain how a pointer works and what's happening in memory, just memorize the function....

This is the real text book that someone should be using to learn C++ (The C++ Programming Language, 4th Edition)
Amazon product

 

[PeoplesElbow]

The freshman engineering programming class sucks. Isn't it over now? Most of the problem I remember is not understanding algorithms and the programming language itself is just taught very poorly.

I bought a book called absolute beginners guide to C++ and it helped tremendously. (Name a little off, linked below)

Is it object oriented or just straight number crunching?

C++ Programming for the Absolute... book by Dirk Henkemans

 

[stgislander]

I have been able to find out from the dad that it is just plain ole C... not C++. Final exam has been taken, just waiting for results. I guess if he fails, he either has to retake it, or he switches to a different engineering program. Dad says possibly civil engineering.

 

[black dog]

I can send him a very vintage "C Dos Run, Run Dos Run" Tee shirt if that would help.

 

[stgislander]

Just got an update. He passed with a C . I guess that means his scholarships are safe.

I guess that also means he won't have to become a civil engineer now.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Just got an update. He passed with a C . I guess that means his scholarships are safe.

I guess that also means he won't have to become a civil engineer now.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

That's good, what is he EE? Plain ole C is probably the easiest language to learn. I wager he doesn't understand the various loops and logic.

 

[stgislander]

Top

That's good, what is he EE? Plain ole C is probably the easiest language to learn. I wager he doesn't understand the various loops and logic.

Don't really know. When I taught myself C, pointers and pointer math was the hardest think to wrap my brain around.

 

[PrchJrkr]

This is all bullshit. Even a coal miner can learn to code. I have that from a very reliable source, so this guy just needed to spend a few summers as a intern, learning how to mine coal. Then he would've aced his programming class. Easy peasy!

 

[Clem72]

This is all bullshit. Even a coal miner can learn to code. I have that from a very reliable source, so this guy just needed to spend a few summers as a intern, learning how to mine coal. Then he would've aced his programming class. Easy peasy!

In college my physics professor, who had written several books, published in numerous prestigious journals, and was definitely a genius liked to tell us he was a construction worker after high school and didn't go to college until he was 36.

But I don't think that was the inspirational talk he believed it to be. Yes, sometimes book-smart people like doing manual labor, that doesn't mean "anyone" can suddenly understand string theory if they apply themselves.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Top

Don't really know. When I taught myself C, pointers and pointer math was the hardest think to wrap my brain around.

Most of our work was fairly simple number crunching, but the final assignment was to write a program to solve a system of linear equations. Most of the class didn't know how to do that on paper let alone write a program for it. I became friends with a nerd that basically did mine for me.