University

[XERXES]

TSL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Dammit, self study only works for BA subjects, not with Maths or Physics etc.

/prepare your flamesuit.


TBH Fenix I don't think that's actually accurate. If you are truly interested in Mathematics, teaching yourself can get amazing results. Whilst in school I taught myself Differentiation and Integration, because of those nights I spent exploring them they are in my memory forever. It was truly rewarding.

[pArkEr]

I can vouch for that. I mean, I rarely go for lectures anymore but am doing quite well in maths. Wish I could say the same for computer science...

[The Dash]

I can vouch for that. I mean, I rarely go for lectures anymore but am doing quite well in maths. Wish I could say the same for computer science...

Pfft computer science second year is a bitch. Im in the labs programming just about every night of the week and im pretty sure im failing. Along with most of the class. Im so glad i dont have to take it third year.

I definitely agree with the whole "you can teach yourself anything" theory, Within reasonable bounds of course. All it takes is a bit of elbow grease and patience

[BattleMoose]

TSL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Dammit, self study only works for BA subjects, not with Maths or Physics etc.

Nonsense.

[TiNRiB]

What languages are you guys doing (Dash and parker)?

Anyway... My advice, practice pratctice practice...

What made it more enjoyable for me, was trying to code things I would enjoy using, with the bit I have learnt.

So put the games down, and try coding for fun.

[The Dash]

What languages are you guys doing (Dash and parker)?

Anyway... My advice, practice pratctice practice...

What made it more enjoyable for me, was trying to code things I would enjoy using, with the bit I have learnt.

So put the games down, and try coding for fun.

Im doing Java, and next semester assembler

I can actually code and i generally enjoy it. Im a mentor for first years and a student assistant for second year programmers so ive always got something interesting to do.

I used to program things that i need, but i dont have the time anymore. I havent even tried to make a game in weeks. Basically the projects we get are fairly standard (writing data structures) The problem is small subtitles in massive blocks of code that lead to errors. Then the projects are marked as strictly as humanly possible. We got minus marks if we put comments at the end of a loop or if statement. Even if they were relevant, helpful comments. The lowest pass for our last practical was 80% and the highest fail was 23%
There were no marks in the middle.

[Chippit]

I used to program things that i need, but i dont have the time anymore. I havent even tried to make a game in weeks. Basically the projects we get are fairly standard (writing data structures) The problem is small subtitles in massive blocks of code that lead to errors. Then the projects are marked as strictly as humanly possible. We got minus marks if we put comments at the end of a loop or if statement. Even if they were relevant, helpful comments. The lowest pass for our last practical was 80% and the highest fail was 23%
There were no marks in the middle.

What? They... mark your comments? What lunacy is this?

I mean, I'm all for encouraging people to comment their ****; I, for one, do so religiously. But folks go to varsity to learn to code (well, er, normal folks), not to learn where to put their double slashes.

[pArkEr]

I have the basics sorted, but still can't wrap my head around arrays, and in most of the tuts I'll have no idea how to go about making the program.

@The Dash, some examples of the programs you used to code for yourself? So far, the programs we've made have no real practical use, mostly mathematical operations. Also, when do you start implementing the programs into the GUI?

[The Dash]

What? They... mark your comments? What lunacy is this?

I mean, I'm all for encouraging people to comment their ****; I, for one, do so religiously. But folks go to varsity to learn to code (well, er, normal folks), not to learn where to put their double slashes.

I know right. Everyone lost marks because they didnt use the IDE formatting (You press Ctrl+Shift+F and the IDE makes your code unreadable) No matter that your code was perfectly fine before =(

I have the basics sorted, but still can't wrap my head around arrays, and in most of the tuts I'll have no idea how to go about making the program.

@The Dash, some examples of the programs you used to code for yourself? So far, the programs we've made have no real practical use, mostly mathematical operations. Also, when do you start implementing the programs into the GUI?

Are you doing first year Bsc Computer Science at Stellenbosch?
If you are, join my mentor group. Basically all theyre teaching now is how to program and how the stuff works. You dont get taught GUIs in first year unless you do visual basic or something similar. GUIs are treated as something that you can learn on your own and are given as extra credit in projects.

Some of the programs that ive made is a betting program for my residence (Which promptly broke when we tried to use it, due to a space in one of the input files - lesson learnt, test test and test some more) and i also wrote a reader for free ebooks i get off the 'net. It basically splits and shows it as two pages on the screen and can do nifty things like bookmark the current page :p

[Chippit]

Varsity CS is such a crock of ****, lol.

:/

But, good luck. And remember, if you ever don't enjoy the actual coding and problem solving, you're doingitwrong. Additionally, because I can't mention it enough times, Project Euler's a great place to stretch your coding fingers, if you're into such things.

[The Dash]

Varsity CS is such a crock of ****, lol.

:/

But, good luck. And remember, if you ever don't enjoy the actual coding and problem solving, you're doingitwrong. Additionally, because I can't mention it enough times, Project Euler's a great place to stretch your coding fingers, if you're into such things.

lol Yeah, Its mainly the lecturers actually.

Project Euler is ossum. Im almost level 1 =D Im solving all of them in Java and working with BigInt is starting to get old fast

[Chippit]

lol Yeah, Its mainly the lecturers actually.

Project Euler is ossum. Im almost level 1 =D Im solving all of them in Java and working with BigInt is starting to get old fast

Heh. You can probably solve all of the problems with 32-bit values if you're creative. And it's not long before you find problems you can't just brute force either. Things get more interesting very quickly, trust me ;)

[The Dash]

Heh. You can probably solve all of the problems with 32-bit values if you're creative. And it's not long before you find problems you can't just brute force either. Things get more interesting very quickly, trust me ;)

Ive solved a few of the more tricky ones with sneaky tricks, but there are some i really have no clue how to solve without brute force. Such as The sum of all the digits in 100!

[Chippit]

Ive solved a few of the more tricky ones with sneaky tricks, but there are some i really have no clue how to solve without brute force. Such as The sum of all the digits in 100!

;)

[Garson007]

How are so many of you on the Stellenbosch campus, and not part of the local IRC network? Geeks, and they don't even know how to do it.

All things considered, I found second year comp sci a joke, because so many people struggled at it. I did almost nothing in as far as projects are concerned and still passed with around 70%, just because I did well in my tests - both practical and theory. Practical tests are the parts where you can score that elusive 100% to up your mark. One read through the notes are all you need to do well in the theory. The one guy giving class just reads off of his slides anyhow (Prof Krizinsky?). What a waste of an hour.

Dammit, self study only works for BA subjects, not with Maths or Physics etc.

I'd disagree. I spent most of my mornings in bed instead of at class. I still made it. Somehow. Seeing things the first time two days before a test is riveting. Seeing something for the first time in the actual test is a bit more of a joke (Even if open book). :P

This reminds me of an Applied Math test we had. I was never in class and I didn't actually have a clue as to how the things worked. Since it was open book though, I just put off the studying. Lol. I went in and wrote the test, only with my textbook as my guide as to wtf I have to do. Lulz were had. App math is a joke.

[NecroWolf]

So far, first year CompSci at UCT has been uneventful, mainly because of a boring a lecturer and the fact that we're doing a semester course over the course of a year. The mainstream students just started loops, which we're only starting in a couple of weeks. At I'm acing all the tests and tuts we've gotten. UCT changed their syllabus this year and they're teaching Python, seems as though it could be fun. It's quite easy to pick up, which i guess is why they're teaching it to us.

It was definitely a shock when we got our maths mastery test results. Basically, we have to write 5 mastery tests a year, which are given to us beforehand, and you have to pass 4 of them with a pass mark of 80% to be eligible to write finals. Out of a class of 70 something students, 16 passed (luckily, I was one them...I got the minimum pass mark). When the test was rewritten, half of those people failed so there's another rewrite next week. You're always told about how people fail in university, but it only hits you when you see a pass rate like that in your own class.

[Sir PaniCore]

Would anyone here reccomend Tuks?
I think I might register there for Res Since a friend of mine says the Res is probably the funnest thing that he has done as well as the fact that if it's midnight and you still don't know something, you just walk down the corridor and find someone who can help you.

[zAnD]

Would anyone here reccomend Tuks?
I think I might register there for Res Since a friend of mine says the Res is probably the funnest thing that he has done as well as the fact that if it's midnight and you still don't know something, you just walk down the corridor and find someone who can help you.

Tuks is an awesome university to go to if u are studying Engineering or BCom, as they have a large variety of courses.

I was in a Res called Kollege, which was great fun. i got help from people that were in my year, as well as free lessons from people that were older than me, which helped me out a lot.

[Sir PaniCore]

Tuks is an awesome university to go to if u are studying Engineering or BCom, as they have a large variety of courses.

I was in a Res called Kollege, which was great fun. i got help from people that were in my year, as well as free lessons from people that were older than me, which helped me out a lot.

I just checked out the marks and it seems that I will have to do the 5 year Electrical engineering course if I go to Tuks, since it seems to be much more strict with Maths. Wits and UJ you only need above 70% for Maths for the 4 year course which is what I got, but Tuks needs above 80% for the 4 year course.

The 5 year course could work though, considering that means I have less chance at failing.

@Griffen: Aren't you doing a 5 year engineering course? How is it treating you?

[Griff3n]

I just checked out the marks and it seems that I will have to do the 5 year Electrical engineering course if I go to Tuks, since it seems to be much more strict with Maths. Wits and UJ you only need above 70% for Maths for the 4 year course which is what I got, but Tuks needs above 80% for the 4 year course.

The 5 year course could work though, considering that means I have less chance at failing.

@Griffen: Aren't you doing a 5 year engineering course? How is it treating you?

Yeah man, The five year program is really chilled in the first semester I have 5 modules, 3 of which are supporting modules for the mainstream modules and I don't write exams on them. So I am looking at two exams at the end of the semester. The only thing i have against 5 year is a module called Professional Orientation. It is the maths lit of computer typing. But it is like free credits so u be the judge. You have to loads of assignments, 4 a week but it is ok nothing too hectic. and the addition modules are great coz it really helps u keep up with the mainstream stuff. All in all it is really not as bad as i thought it would be and at least I only have the crap hard first year modules next year.