KiplingsCat
Space Core
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2009
- Messages
- 446
- Reaction score
- 25
So when I started my Physics course, nobody had ever told me how important it would be for me to have computer skills. Not as in being able to type and make spreadsheets; real computer skills like being able to write code. I was literally clueless as to the amount of reliance physicists had on computers. None of the computer courses offered in 1st year were compulsory, and I chose a Chemistry elective instead, which, due to my college's credit system, meant that I couldn't choose any other optional module (Most modules are worth 5 credits; 1st year Chemistry was worth 15, and my remaining 45 credits were taken up with compulsory subjects).
Any computer module I could have chosen in the following years then had these first year modules as prerequisites, essentially excluding me from taking them, as I wouldn't have had the necessary skills and would have failed. So now I'm in something of a pickle: all my lecturers expect me to have competent coding skills, but due to a combination of misinformation and academic loopholes, I have virtually none.
So my question is this: Where do I start? What languages should I learn? And does anybody know of some good online tutorials that will give me what I need? Can anybody recommend a textbook or instruction manual to me? I'm probably going to go on to do a PhD and I don't want to be the laughing stock of science.
Any computer module I could have chosen in the following years then had these first year modules as prerequisites, essentially excluding me from taking them, as I wouldn't have had the necessary skills and would have failed. So now I'm in something of a pickle: all my lecturers expect me to have competent coding skills, but due to a combination of misinformation and academic loopholes, I have virtually none.
So my question is this: Where do I start? What languages should I learn? And does anybody know of some good online tutorials that will give me what I need? Can anybody recommend a textbook or instruction manual to me? I'm probably going to go on to do a PhD and I don't want to be the laughing stock of science.