What should I do to improve my knowledge in programming? 2

[tango99]

I have an average amount of knowledge in PHP, normal in MYSQL. Newbish in Java, Perl. Never read a book on these before, should I consider buying some books to read? Anyone has any recommendation?

I have done and wrote PHP scripts on my servers but I think they are rather simple scripts. What should I do to improve?

I am going to take up a diploma in Computing Science soon but I wish to know more than that alone the course can and will offer me. I have an average amount of knowledge in PHP, normal in MYSQL. Newbish in Java, Perl. Never read a book on these before, should I consider buying some books to read? Anyone has any recommendation?

Should I continue to learn PERL?

I have done and wrote PHP scripts on my server but I think they are rather simple scripts. What should I do to improve?

I am going to take up a diploma in Computing Science soon but I wish to know more than that alone the course can and will offer me.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[MasterRacker]

Pick up some O'Reilly books on the various languages you are interested in or just go to Amazon and see what you find there. That combined with the structure, design and algorithmic techniques you pick up in a CS program should get you there.
Jeff

I haven't lost my mind - I know it's backed up on tape somewhere ....

 

[jwdcfdeveloper]

Amamzon.com is a great source. There is another cool website to buy techie books Bookpool.com

http://www.bookpool.com/.

The books are generally 20-40 percent cheaper. The downside, is that they may not have all of the latest and greatest books like Amazon, but there stock is sufficient. In terms of Java, I would suggest the SAM's Series books (Learning Java in 24 hrs and Learning Java in 21 days). These books helped prepare me for a Java class I took a year ago. Getting a Computer Scence degree is a smart move. It will help you advance your career. I know there are plenty of good programmers who do not have a degree, but if you ever want to get into management or work with people more than code, the degree will open a door or two for you.

 

[gatecrasher]

Practice practice practice...I have worked with my organisation for 3 years and in those three years i have had some dead end projects, which I have used to improve my knowledge of different programming languages. What I like to do is to download the development tools and spend maybe an hour each morning learning one or another of them. It just means I have to come in an hour earlier each day, but it is a small price to pay.

I would concur with the use of sams books as they are quite handy and if you are prepared to work with a version of a programming language that may not be the latest you can generally get these books really really cheap. (not to mention the software as well!) most new versions of programming tools just add a few new features which you can pick up quickly by using forums such as this and newsgroups.

 

[varocho]

I wouldn't discourage you from learning other programming languages, like Java, but I would encourage you to learn how to do good object-oriented design...something I'm still learning.