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eamoss

Ok I kinda bluffed my way into 2nd year on a programming course in college. Now that I am in 2nd year I am expected to know stuff we learned in 1st year but the thing is there is a lot of stuff I dont know. Like arrays have no idea what they are.

What should I do?

aidan_walsh

Study your notes from last year.

sremowt

Cry. Study. Grinds.
I find that with programming practise makes everything sink in. Write programs, scripts or whatever. Do it till you get sick of it.

seamus

Practice, practice, practice.

There is no substitute for doing the exercises that you lecturers give you, no matter how mundane they seem. Go back to your first year course/book and do the exercises. Google anything you don't know - don't google the whole answer, just google the bit that you're stuck on and understand the solution.

The only way to learn and retain programming skills is to practice them. You won't remember what you learn in lectures.

You can ask questions about problems here - but read the charter. If you're going to ask a question here, make as much of an attempt as you can and try to describe your understanding of the problem and where you're stuck. Programmers don't like to do the work of other programmers, but we're more than happy to help out people who are eager to learn.

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eamoss wrote: »

Ok I kinda bluffed my way into 2nd year on a programming course in college. Now that I am in 2nd year I am expected to know stuff we learned in 1st year but the thing is there is a lot of stuff I dont know. Like arrays have no idea what they are.

What should I do?

Grinds are the only way to bring you up to speed quickly.

Get them from someone, who has finished college and really know how to
program and can explain the basics to you.

You will need to practise between each grind.

But you could easily learn 1st year programming in a week with some hard work and a good tutor.

Don't forget in 3 years time you will be a graduate and don't accept anything less than 30k (34k if you include inflation) for your starting salary.

stevenmu

Find a good book, one that covers the basics of programming aswell as the particular language you are using in college. I found Deitel & Deitels: "Java How to Program" to be excellent. It covers the basics of programming, essentially teaching someone with no experience how to program. They do a C++ version, and I think .Net versions too. I'd recommend sitting down, reading a whole chapter, then going back and trying the examples.