IT guys: how do you do it?
 

I realize coding is probably in the rear-view mirror for most of you by now but...I have to take a specific C class as all engineers at purdue have to...and to plainly put it, it frickin bites. They're damn anal about the documentation standards and it's just ridiculous as to how much syntax there is to learn, and how specific functions use it/them / how specific functions behahve with each other, etc etc. :banghead:

Rant over: seems like it's all about practice to remember this stuff. Any other suggestions?

Reuse code and comment the code like hell.

I've been in the biz for over 20+ years, you'll get used to it. Wait until you have to deal with Six Sigma!

LOL coding.. haha.. I just sell the stuff.. :)

it plain out sux which is why i got my BS in Comp Sci but dont want to look at another compiler for as long as i live at least not without a good fight to do it.

Not much appears to have changed since my mech eng grad class of '83. Back then it was Fortran/AlgolW/Pascal/etc IIRC, with punchcards most of the time, and some time spent on the Vax, PDP11, what have you.

Pretty sure that they are teaching you the benefits of documentation, structured thinking, logic, etc, and not trying to turn you into programmers. All good stuff. Suck it up.

Sorry, not much sympathy here. If it was easy then anyone could graduate, and what would it be worth then? :)

Jeff

baby steps... take it in smaller chunks..

process called stubbing it out... write down the outline of what you want and then fill in small sections at a time so you have it in controllable and digestable amounts...

if you can build a strong foundation here, your logic processing skills will also increase tremendously...

Problem solving / logic processing is VERY highly emphasized here. There is a seperate engineering class that we took first semester freshman year that is only about problem solving...the retention rate in engr past that class is very low. The tools in that one were Matlab, Excel (used to it's full potential) and Unix.

As far as this cs class goes, as you suggest Adam , we are required to use flowcharts and structure charts prior to coding, most of the time. I suppose they do help a bit.

ot, MEs still have to take Fortran...minus the punchcards ;).

Thanks for the words of wisdom.

just like jeff said.. if its too easy, is it worth doing?... these classes require more brain power and if the students aren't ready to commit the effort or they are incapable of learning, this field is not for them...

i'm not beeotching about the curriculum...cs is just frustrating at times. i enjoy this type of logical problem solving and am glad it's this rigorous..the school wouldn't have it's fairly good reputation without it. moreover, students senior to me say it really does help down the line. i've already reaped the benefits when i was able to apply this stuff during my manufacturing internship over summer.

that's exactly why they have these classes.. to weed out the weakest links.. It gets better.. trust me.. :thumbup: