Hi John,<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 3:35 PM, John Thornton <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jdthornton@ozemail.com.au">jdthornton@ozemail.com.au</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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Hello</span></font></p>
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I have scoured the earth looking for any Australian computer trainers that can
meet my needs. I am a maths graduate who's starting programming as a
beginner. I have messed about with python, java and perl. </span></font></p>
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Cost is not a real issue. I am prepared to pay for a good course taught by
people who know their stuff. More important is to do a course online that
covers the specifics of programming: OOP, applets etc. The language also isn't
that important. I would even be prepared to give Perl another go in spite of my
expressed distaste for it on this list! The learning style matters –
those 5 day intensive things are no good for me. Rather, I prefer a course that
is spread out over time. </span></font></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>Is taking a course that important to you? Why not just bunker down with a good book or two. If you are just starting out programming, I suggest not looking at Perl. Once again, Perl is not suited as an introduction to programming. Perl is like a fine V.S.O.P. If it's your first ever swig of alcohol, you're going to be put off very quickly. Ease yourself into it with alcopops like Python and Pascal and don't forget to stay away from the cheap casks like Java.<br>
<br>If you are looking for specifics such as Applets, I think Java and Flash are your only options. However you might want to try Python since it was developed specifically to teach people how to program.
I've found "Learning Python" by Mark Lutz to be a good intro.<br><br>Forget about the specifics for now e.g. OOP and Applets. Stick with learning general programming. There is no point learning the intricacies of multiplexed IO if you don't even know what a byte is yet. It will take time but if you stick at it, you should start seeing progress soon.<br>
<br>Alfie<br></div></div>