Final Year

LegacyUser

I am going into final year next year and this year I have to do a project which I am not looking forward to as I really suck at my course. I somehow managed to pull off a 2.2 grade last year but yet I cant do stuff we did in first year. Programming is a big part of my course and since day one I haven't been able to do it to save my life. I have tried to understand it many times but always come out not knowing how to do first year stuff.

I am really worried I am going to get a bad grade this year, I want to get a 2.1 so that I can go into another field of Computers that doesn't include programming after I leave College.

I have also gotten grinds but they didn't help at all, so unsure how I am going to get a decent grade this year!

LegacyUser

I was a pretty crap programmer in college, then I left and got a job as a software engineer - and guess what? Within a few months I was good at it.
Its not that hard - whats hard is the boring stuff they have you programming in college. In a working environment its much easier, plus you copy a lot of code and just make changes to suit whats needed so mostly youre not doing anything from scratch.

What language are you having trouble with?

LegacyUser

When it comes to programming, its very important to understand the basics. While learning, I would never advise a person to rely on manipulating old code, rather than approaching a problem themselves first.

Perhaps you could dedicate some time to some simple problems, and build up your knowledge slowly? Before term starts is the perfect time to get back on track. Don't stress, as this will just consume your energy, just start simply.

Perhaps if you share the language you are having problems with, people could direct you to some resources they found useful?

LegacyUser

Hi OP
I was the same as you in college,dreaded my final year project because I couldn't programme well at all,I was only good at the basic stuff. I managed a good enough project even if it did take me months to get it working!!Like you I wanted a 2.1 and got it.
I graduated last year and am now working for a multinational telecoms company and I've had to do very little coding yet, It all depends on what area of computing you want to go into when you graduate, I'm not in design so I don't programme much.
If you're determined to get a programming job then it will be tough but being realistic you're not going have to walk into any job and code a whole application on your own!! You'll be trained in for the first year or two. And code reuse is a huge part of it,from code in existing applications to code on the net,it's all about reuse.
Seriously don't worry about it,you'll be surprised what you pick up while doing your project and you'll also be surprised when you're working and you realise how little of the stuff you did in college you will actually use again!!
Good luck with the project

Genghiz Cohen

You have a few weeks yet.
Maybe you should have another go at some of the projects you were given in the past years.
I know if I wanted to practice programming I'd make another version of Asteroids or Moon Lander. (Games Programmer)
They are simple enough to be made quickly and you know how to do them so just do them, it's all practice.

fasty

I think some people look at programming in college like others do honours maths in school... IMPOSSIBLE!

If your studying computers and doing okay apart from programming, you should have a logical enough mind. Programming isn't as hard as you think if you just break everything down and think about what you're doing!

I'm wary of people who give grinds... Most of "getting" programming is spending the time understanding it yourself.

Why not post questions, with your attempts at solutions in the programming board throughout the year?