Thread: any c courses in the UK?

  1. #1
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    any c courses in the UK?

    Hi everyone, I didnt introduce myself yet. Im David_Baratheon, an Electronics student from Sheffield Hallam University.

    I would like to attend a course in the UK to get some basics in c. Preferably with a certificate at the end. Just a short course, like a week long or a weekend or something. Does anyone know of something like this?

    Also, Id like to attend some events of some sort and build up my experience with c so if anyone knows of some good events related to c prgramming please let me know.

    Thank you and nice to meet everyone, hope I will benefit from this forum and get on well here

  2. #2
    Registered User ledow's Avatar
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    A week-long course in C will be about as much use as a week-long course in Oil Super-tanker Driving.

    You're in a university - go approach the CS department and see what they offer. Their introductory programming courses are rarely in C (at least, when I did my degree they weren't) and usually cover 1-2 years, though. Better yet, go to the bookshop or library and get yourself a student edition of a C programming book. Reading it over the course of a week and doing the exercises will do TEN TIMES MORE than any week-long course would ever offer you. Even better still - make a friend of one of the CS or maths guys that already knows how to program. Yes, maths. They probably do as much, if not more, programming than the CS department do. And if you're on an electronics course, I will be astounded if you don't cover some form of embedded C as part of that natural course anyway - if you don't, I'd be quite worried about what they're actually supposed to be teaching you.

    Like everything else, the best way to learn is to do-it-yourself. Pick up a C compiler and an off-the-net tutorial and get started. That's how most people do it. The only "course" / official teaching I was ever exposed to was one in BBC BASIC when I was about 15, and Introduction to Programming in Java at uni (by which time, I was doing anything I wanted to in any language I needed to).

    Seriously - go get a book and read it. If you're not enthused enough to find out the rest yourself by the end of the week / end of the book (which should be about the same time if you're doing it properly), then no course in the world will help you.

    - Compiler warnings are like "Bridge Out Ahead" warnings. DON'T just ignore them.
    - A compiler error is something SO stupid that the compiler genuinely can't carry on with its job. A compiler warning is the compiler saying "Well, that's bloody stupid but if you WANT to ignore me..." and carrying on.
    - The best debugging tool in the world is a bunch of printf()'s for everything important around the bits you think might be wrong.

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    Quote Originally Posted by David_Baratheon View Post
    Preferably with a certificate at the end. Just a short course, like a week long or a weekend or something.
    Better read this first :
    Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years

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    Quote Originally Posted by ledow View Post
    A week-long course in C will be about as much use as a week-long course in Oil Super-tanker Driving.

    You're in a university - go approach the CS department and see what they offer. Their introductory programming courses are rarely in C (at least, when I did my degree they weren't) and usually cover 1-2 years, though. Better yet, go to the bookshop or library and get yourself a student edition of a C programming book. Reading it over the course of a week and doing the exercises will do TEN TIMES MORE than any week-long course would ever offer you. Even better still - make a friend of one of the CS or maths guys that already knows how to program. Yes, maths. They probably do as much, if not more, programming than the CS department do. And if you're on an electronics course, I will be astounded if you don't cover some form of embedded C as part of that natural course anyway - if you don't, I'd be quite worried about what they're actually supposed to be teaching you.

    Like everything else, the best way to learn is to do-it-yourself. Pick up a C compiler and an off-the-net tutorial and get started. That's how most people do it. The only "course" / official teaching I was ever exposed to was one in BBC BASIC when I was about 15, and Introduction to Programming in Java at uni (by which time, I was doing anything I wanted to in any language I needed to).

    Seriously - go get a book and read it. If you're not enthused enough to find out the rest yourself by the end of the week / end of the book (which should be about the same time if you're doing it properly), then no course in the world will help you.
    Hi, thanks for the response. I already have a c prgramming class as part of my studies and we were also recommended a book by the university, c programming from novice to professioanl or something like that, and I have the book. The course was more a supplement to my learning rather than my means of learning c.

    Ive done some courses outside of uni on some of my other modules, just little weekend courses where I go away to other cities and attend a cofnerence or weekend course, and Ive really benefitted a lot from them so was just wondering if they offer them in c. Im sure tehre are professional bodies who organise conferences and such like. In Electronics we have the IET who regularly organise extra cirricula studies to supplement our learning and I really find them great.

    I just think its a better use of my time than going out to the night clubs and getting hangovers. I went to a course last weekend and found it really great and Im trying to find similar things in my other modules.

    If anyone has info on any events, lectures, conferences or short courses in programming (preferably c but other languages are still welcome), please post them up.

    Something niche is preferable, perhaps a weekend course making some basic games or something.

    I do appreciate that books and my university studies should be my main source of learning by I enjoy programming and feel the environment would enhance my studies and Id get to meet and network with serious programmers and get other benefits.

    Is there a professional body for programmers and regular talks?

    Im basicly interested in any gatherings related to programming in the UK

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by ledow View Post
    A week-long course in C will be about as much use as a week-long course in Oil Super-tanker Driving.

    You're in a university - go approach the CS department and see what they offer. Their introductory programming courses are rarely in C (at least, when I did my degree they weren't) and usually cover 1-2 years, though. Better yet, go to the bookshop or library and get yourself a student edition of a C programming book. Reading it over the course of a week and doing the exercises will do TEN TIMES MORE than any week-long course would ever offer you. Even better still - make a friend of one of the CS or maths guys that already knows how to program. Yes, maths. They probably do as much, if not more, programming than the CS department do. And if you're on an electronics course, I will be astounded if you don't cover some form of embedded C as part of that natural course anyway - if you don't, I'd be quite worried about what they're actually supposed to be teaching you.

    Like everything else, the best way to learn is to do-it-yourself. Pick up a C compiler and an off-the-net tutorial and get started. That's how most people do it. The only "course" / official teaching I was ever exposed to was one in BBC BASIC when I was about 15, and Introduction to Programming in Java at uni (by which time, I was doing anything I wanted to in any language I needed to).

    Seriously - go get a book and read it. If you're not enthused enough to find out the rest yourself by the end of the week / end of the book (which should be about the same time if you're doing it properly), then no course in the world will help you.
    while I totally agree with the article, Im not expecting miracles of going from knowing nothing to being an expert after a one weekend course. Im just looking to get that extra boost to my studies. I think it would give me the edge over other students in my class and allow me to excel in programming, which is very necessary for electronic engineers as we do embedded systems in the second year. This year is just a module called "introduction to programming" so if I can get myself above the level required it will put me in a strong position. Im also not only looking to attend one convention/event only, once I have attended one and seen what its like, I may well attend more and Im sure it will help me.

    I benefit from learning in different ways, I have books, I have my module at uni, I now have this excellent web resource which Im intending to really utilise, but being in an envinroment with enthusiastic programmers and having that push and learning in that manner would certainly enrich and enhance my learning.

    Hope that makes sense to everyone.

    Hopefully some of you have some goof info on some excellent events I can attend to benefit my development in programming

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    I don't think you will benefit that much from a week long course if you already attend an intro course in programming. Programming is a lot like math, you learn math by doing math.

    Invent a hobby project, design and write the code for it, progress on to harder hobby projects. Rinse and repeat.

    Also, if you really want to learn something that you can benefit from after university, learn to read code. Most university students that graduate simply don't know how to read and understand code written by other programmers. This is an essential skill if you start working as a developer.

  7. #7
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    You can't learn much about programming from a course. The ones that are run tend to be nothing more than your university course (and usually a lot, lot, less). I don't know of any C course specifically, and even a C++ course is hard to find and usually extremely expensive and probably unsuitable because they'll be aimed at business programmers wanting to get into a new language, not learn from scratch. The UK is also not that big on tech conferences unless they are backed by big business, when they basically become adverts.

    As far as I'm aware, there are very few IT professional bodies in the UK at all - and I work in IT. There are "qualifications" but they tend not to focus on programming at all (because that's not something you can really evaluate quickly or easily) but core skills and particular products. Hell, we don't even have IT unions, let alone anything else. There is no central IT body and certainly not one that advertises any conference or course that I've ever been even vaguely interested in (and my employer would quite happily send me along at whatever cost if I asked).

    And, as I say, you won't benefit much from any programming conference unless you're already programming - I've seen ones with titles such as "Secure Business Programming" but they focus exclusively on the big-business languages, software and techniques and assume you're already an accomplished programmer. They don't teach you how to program, they merely teach you what to look out for in that very narrow aspect of programming in a general way. Everything else is business and/or basic "IT Skills" related (read: Can you click a mouse?).

    And no conference-style environment will help your programming. It really won't. It's like sending a lumberjack on a business course - they might learn something about Health and Safety or some regulation, but they won't become better lumberjacks because of it. Programming is not something that you can just nod along to and gain knowledge subconsciously. You either do it or you don't and the skill is in the doing, not the knowing. Every single piece of code you ever write will be entirely different to every single piece of code everyone else would write, unless you copy them literally.

    You can look, but what you'll find are business courses with zero programming content, high-level theoretical courses with zero actual programming content, or the equivalent of your university course from either other universities or someone with an inferior knowledge of programming to them. Trust me, you're much better off just sitting down for a hour or two and programming something each night.

    - Compiler warnings are like "Bridge Out Ahead" warnings. DON'T just ignore them.
    - A compiler error is something SO stupid that the compiler genuinely can't carry on with its job. A compiler warning is the compiler saying "Well, that's bloody stupid but if you WANT to ignore me..." and carrying on.
    - The best debugging tool in the world is a bunch of printf()'s for everything important around the bits you think might be wrong.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ledow View Post
    You can't learn much about programming from a course. The ones that are run tend to be nothing more than your university course (and usually a lot, lot, less). I don't know of any C course specifically, and even a C++ course is hard to find and usually extremely expensive and probably unsuitable because they'll be aimed at business programmers wanting to get into a new language, not learn from scratch. The UK is also not that big on tech conferences unless they are backed by big business, when they basically become adverts.

    As far as I'm aware, there are very few IT professional bodies in the UK at all - and I work in IT. There are "qualifications" but they tend not to focus on programming at all (because that's not something you can really evaluate quickly or easily) but core skills and particular products. Hell, we don't even have IT unions, let alone anything else. There is no central IT body and certainly not one that advertises any conference or course that I've ever been even vaguely interested in (and my employer would quite happily send me along at whatever cost if I asked).

    And, as I say, you won't benefit much from any programming conference unless you're already programming - I've seen ones with titles such as "Secure Business Programming" but they focus exclusively on the big-business languages, software and techniques and assume you're already an accomplished programmer. They don't teach you how to program, they merely teach you what to look out for in that very narrow aspect of programming in a general way. Everything else is business and/or basic "IT Skills" related (read: Can you click a mouse?).

    And no conference-style environment will help your programming. It really won't. It's like sending a lumberjack on a business course - they might learn something about Health and Safety or some regulation, but they won't become better lumberjacks because of it. Programming is not something that you can just nod along to and gain knowledge subconsciously. You either do it or you don't and the skill is in the doing, not the knowing. Every single piece of code you ever write will be entirely different to every single piece of code everyone else would write, unless you copy them literally.

    You can look, but what you'll find are business courses with zero programming content, high-level theoretical courses with zero actual programming content, or the equivalent of your university course from either other universities or someone with an inferior knowledge of programming to them. Trust me, you're much better off just sitting down for a hour or two and programming something each night.

    Hi thanks for taking the time to reply.

    I would just like to check, are you saying that what im looking for doesnt exist, or that it wont benefit me?

    I think Id still like to give it a go if there are things out there. Even if its very theoretical or only tailored to a niche area of programming like business, I still would like to go and try it and if it doesnt benefit me at least I will have tried it for myself and seen whats available. The engineering conference I went to last weekend wasnt heavily technical but was still beneficial, I got to netowork, get some ideas, learn some useful technical things etc, plus i booked myself a nice hotel and relaxed for the weekend, and overall id say id rather do these types of things than alton towers or the beer festivals, so what I would say is that definitely I will bare your advice in mind, but if they do exist, please do still provide some details so I can have a look and see for myself how I found it.

    I am learning the basics now so the event doesnt have to be basic, although working on basics is also good, but working on something more advanced is good too and I certainly wouldnt complain if it was advanced for my level and would motivate me to work hard to get to that level and then return again. There is a good social element too, which bedroom programming lacks, and its nice to meet like minded people and build up my enthusiasm for programming and perhaps work on some joint projects for fun and build up my prcatice that way.

    If anyone knows of anything at all, doesnt matter if its too expensive or you dont think it will benefit me that much, anything at alll, please post it up and ill go check it out.

    sorry to hear that programmers have no professional body, or well organised groups etc, because i my oppinion something really good could be set up, a room with computers could be booked for a weekend and we could all work on a simple game or something, and have some lectures on the future of programming, have some food or something and just do something more productive with our time rather than killing brain cells in the pub. I for one would definitely attend things like that. There is an engineering conference in bristol that will cost over £300 but im still considering going because thats only like skipping 6 nights out on the town. I really enjoy these things. There is also some robotics conferences and competitions, and other useful gatherings. Im sure something must exist for programmers. We have a lecture once a week in uni for programming and it is useful when combined with the weekly lab. in the lecture he is breaking down things like pointers and showing how they work etc.

    btw are there any projects that you guys work on together? I think this forum could be a good place to practice and improve my skills to hopefully

    again, please do provide details on anything you hear of, even if you dont feel it will be very good im still willing to consider it as it motovates me more and im more likely to come home buzzing and ready for programming and will put more effort into the videos, tutorials etc so even from that angle its useful. Im sure something good will come out of it

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    Seems to be the sort of thing im searching for. Unfortunately there seems to be something called "events programming", making it difficult to just google.

    Im sure there are some things happening so please do post even if you think it wont be that good
    Last edited by David_Baratheon; 02-02-2012 at 08:49 AM.

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    this organisation looks quite good:

    ACCU :: ACCU

    They say they publish journals, run a monthly magazine, have mentors etc. sounds good to me. What do you guys think? Does anyone know of anything better that I might benefit from?

    if you click on the conference page they have a 5 day conference in april which is perfect for me as its during holidays. Its £500 though so quite steeply priced. The schedule looks good. Ill have to mull it over. Id like to see what else is available first though so please post anything similar
    Last edited by David_Baratheon; 02-02-2012 at 08:51 AM.

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    Smile C Language Basics

    Quote Originally Posted by manasij7479 View Post
    Here is a good site

    C Language Basics
    Last edited by Salem; 02-02-2012 at 12:47 PM. Reason: Snipped crappy self-promotion url full of mis-information with something useful

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by learner67 View Post
    Here is a good site
    Not even close..
    It seems to teach decades obsolete C ..and that too in a shabby way.

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    unless anyone has any better suggestions i think i will head to their conference in april. anyone got better suggestions or shall i stick with this one? Also what do people think of their periodicals that they release?

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    just found another one:

    DevWeek | Pre-Conference Workshops

    would really appreciate peoples advice on what will be most beneficial for me. I have my heart set on attending something lol so "dont attend anything" wont help but your advice on the event that will most benefit me will be great

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    Quote Originally Posted by David_Baratheon View Post
    just found another one:

    DevWeek | Pre-Conference Workshops

    would really appreciate peoples advice on what will be most beneficial for me. I have my heart set on attending something lol so "dont attend anything" wont help but your advice on the event that will most benefit me will be great
    If you already know C++ and OOP then the "Design patterns in depth" might be useful to you.
    But, if you only know "C" then none of them on the link applies from my viewpoint.

    Tim S.
    Last edited by stahta01; 02-02-2012 at 04:43 PM.
    "...a computer is a stupid machine with the ability to do incredibly smart things, while computer programmers are smart people with the ability to do incredibly stupid things. They are,in short, a perfect match.." Bill Bryson

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