Programming challenges for begginers

stonecoldgen

Hello again.

I'm understanding pretty well this whole programming thing. I'm learning javaa and I would like to know what are any challanges that could be given to a newbie just like me. You know, something that can be given perhaps as an assignment in an introductory level university course.

Thanks again physicsforums.

chiro

Hey stonecoldgen.

I've heard some other posters talk about udacity which can be found here:

http://www.udacity.com/

Other than this, if you have a specialized interest, I suggest you look for open source projects that are close to the interest and then start learning the repository (i.e. the source code) and then change or add new features of your own incrementally.

The advantages for this include the time to getting new things done (as opposed to writing everything from scratch) as well as learning domain specific things (i.e. stuff related to the interest) and getting exposure to how stuff is commonly done.

What kinds of interests do you have?

bcbwilla

Coding bat has some fun beginner - intermediate programming challenges for both java and python, which can be done directly in the browser.

Project Euler also has tons of challenges, although they tend to be more on the intermediate - advanced level.

rcgldr

I posted a very old set of 3 puzzles based on an imaginary computer that only has 4 instructions, and limited addressable memory. It's a bit of a challenge. Link to the old thread.

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=561124

Xitami

http://www.spoj.pl/

shitij

SPOJ, Codechef are good places to start with.
Practise the easy sections first. There are lots of questions.

Also, if you are looking for data structure based questions instead of puzzle type questions which these sites generally have, try geeksforgeeks.

jedishrfu

my favorites have been the Open Source Physics at www.compadre.org/osp. they have a collection of classes for simulating various physical systems using ODE solvers with some graphics. You could extend some of the simulations or write your own.

You could also get used to using Eclipse, Netbeans or IntelliJ IDE as they are used extensively in academia and industry for developing java applications.

I did one simulation where I extended a sliding block attached to a spring where I made the spring flex as the block moved and attempted another where I tried to simulate the flight of a frisbee (not so successful - ran out of time).