How should a non CS person develop CS skills? | Hacker News Reader

How should a non CS person develop CS skills?

4 pointspskittle8 comments

Hi , I'm looking to get deeper into CS and have a biomedical background with some introductory programming courses under the belt. Would appreciate advice. Thanks

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I was in a similar situation to you (PhD in Molecular Biology). I end up in a job where I did not have a lab (just an office) and so decided to learn to program rather than sit around watching YouTube videos all day. What I end up doing is using code to try to solve a problem that required my molecular biology knowledge. My code was not great (it still is not in my opinion), but it worked. This is good enough for me.

While it would be nice to write code that other cs people think is cool, I solved problems that they can't even understand with code that is basic. I guess what I am saying is just start coding and keep learning so you get better.

I feel you! My motivation is to develop medical device prototypes. I've had considerable luck so far. My friends and i developed a gait analyser for the paraplegics with an electrical simulator that could enervate their affected muscles. The current way that this works is most of the equipment is manufactured abroad and becomes too expensive For people who live for less than a dollar a day. There are so many problems that could be solved and automated. Which would be easier to go about if i knew what conceptual knowledge is imp . Thanks

The most important thing is to make something that works. The most beautiful code in the world is worthless unless it actual does something ( yes I am ignoring code as literature which I do think exists). Write the best code you can and start helping people.

Currently in med school and discovered a love for programming. Gives me a creative outlet. I'm convinced the future of medicine is "in silico," so nothing gives me greater joy than combining these two loves.

What do you want to do with it? Learning CS for the sake of learning CS is one thing -- just follow a progression of courses on Coursera or MIT Open Courseware.

If you are a problem-solver, learn as needed. Read blogs, do Codecademy, etc.

Your question is too unfocused and general for a meaningful answer. Without specific questions, all I can say is, "study computer science."

Here's a suggested starting point:

http://www.bottomupcs.com/

You should probably figure out if you are even capable of learning CS and programming. In my experience, even many CS degree graduates never really learn to code.

coding is not that hard... its learning the logic of solving complex multi-layered problems that most programmers can't wrap their head around.

here... watch this course... http://see.stanford.edu/see/lecturelist.aspx?coll=824a47e1-1...

Its pretty good and gives you some insight to what is required...

Don't concern yourself with languages... they are not that hard to learn... focus on the concepts and methods used to build a solution. The actual "Coding" portion of being a programmer is not that hard.

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