Where did you learn coding?

Reply #46

time*treat — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:04:24 GMT

@aberdeennut: I think many of us start out on paper, and as our idea shows potential (if I add a little here...) we get to a place where we realize the thing has grown too complex to reliably and quickly be one by hand. That's certainly true for lotto-type games.

The code is only as useful as the idea behind it. Poor ideas, coded, only give you the wrong answer ... faster.

Reply #45

RJOh — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 01:46:17 GMT

aberdeennut,

If you can convince someone who does coding for a living and enjoy playing lotteries that you have some ideas that really could improve your odds of winning a lottery jackpot, they probably would be glad to team up with you and code your ideas into a program. It would a big let down to some day discover you really could have won a lottery jackpot had you only found someone to code your ideas into a program.

Reply #44

aberdeennut — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:28:29 GMT

Hi time treat I am an no coder with a system that needs to be coded,at 67 I don't intend to start, I use what is available on the spreadsheet there are in my opinion many people who can't use code but proffess they can,the lottery needs a good IT expert to manipulate the system, I beleive it's not what you see but what you don't look for that is the answer,and have done what I needed to do manually inserting filters to get the result, you have to use the lottery system and throw it back at it to... [ More ]

Reply #43

RJOh — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:18:03 GMT

The problem is, if each system gets a 4of5 then combining them could result in a 2of5.

Reply #42

time*treat — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:32:33 GMT

Ah, by same numbers , I meant same combo. There is only one 5/5 correct per drawing.

Reply #41

Stew12 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:41:12 GMT

The problem is that of two systems predict winning combinations on different days, combining them each day may be counter productive. If system A were to produce numbers 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, and system B were to produce 5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15, combining them would create 5-6-7-8-9-10. If the draw results were 2-3-4-5-6 we would be left with a 2 of 5 match where simply taking the output from System A would have given a 5 of 5 match. This would only prove produvtive if 2 systems consistently... [ More ]

Reply #40

time*treat — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:04:46 GMT

If our systems can all predict the winning combo on a given day, then combining them (or cross-filtering them and playing the 'common' numbers) would make for a great system. I don't know if you'd get 60%, but with p5 and up, you don't have to.

(Thanks to Todd for cleaning up the thread

Reply #39

RJOh — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:50:19 GMT

Ideas are abound at LP, just read any thread and you will see someone explaining their ideas about how to win the lottery. If you are a programmer without any ideas then you won't have any trouble finding plenty of ideas to program. But if you just have some ideas that you want someone to program then you're going that a path that has been traveled by other LP members before without much luck.

If you are a programmer, create a program and start a thread about it and you'll get all kinds of ad... [ More ]

Reply #38

lvision — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:38:36 GMT

So why dont all of us get together with ALL OF our ideas and expertise to create a computer program that can compute winning numbers 62.222222% percent of the time! LETS START TODAY

Reply #37

LckyLary — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:13:46 GMT

My first computer was as Commodore VIC=20 in 1982. Back then there wasn't much software and if there was it was expensive and in the form of a cumbersome plug-in cartridge. I was fascinated with this computer and wrote several games and homework helpers and shocked my Spanish teacher by turning homework in dot-matrix even with the tilde (~) over the n . The C64 was next and similar to the VIC.

The Amiga was a lot more difficult to program and the mac and PC I didn't have the $ to buy expensiv... [ More ]

Reply #36

wantmoney — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:04:08 GMT

There are lots of materials to improve our skills in coding. I think it depends on ourselves but NOT methods.

(My option is the first term) Practice is same important as learning.

Reply #35

ptcruiser70 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:13:01 GMT

how are you todd

Reply #34

Stew12 — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 18:28:16 GMT

VS 2008 is the way to go. We've been using it at work for some time now. We're a C# shop mainly, but also frequently use VB, Java, JavaScript, SQL, etc etc.

Reply #33

JADELottery — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:24:23 GMT

I've had VS 2008 PRO for a month or so... it's kick azs.

There is so much that can be done that I had to go out and buy additional books on 'how to' and 'self instruction' beyond my VB6 knowledge.

In addition to learning C++, I'll be learning C# and many subheadings under each language.

I love the integration of different programming platforms in one easy IDE.

Reply #32

Todd — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:53:43 GMT

I've been using VS2008 for about a year now, and I feel confident saying it's the best development environment and languages I have ever used. And I have used most of them. (I probably know about 16-18 computer languages fairly fluently.)

It is such a powerful set of tools, and they take the drudgery out of common, detail-oriented tasks. For example, creating a Windows service has never been easier.

Plus, the .NET 3.5 language enhancements are just dynamite. I use them whenever I can.

G... [ More ]

Reply #31

time*treat — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:55:19 GMT

You can do a great deal with the Visual Basic, in Excel. Those formulas can get surprisingly elaborate.

Reply #30

Stew12 — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:17:44 GMT

I went to College for Computer Science Engineering, picked most of it up there. Used to program a bit in high school on the Ti-86 calculator while bored in class. The rest I picked up on the job as a Software Engineer / Application Developer.

I use C# Windows Apps for my Lotto junk, the language has quite a bit of functionality and is quite similar to C++. With a nice Visual Studio development environment, hammering out applications with nice displays and organization isn't nearly as difficu... [ More ]

Reply #29

MillionsWanted — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:35:02 GMT

I've just bought MS Visual Studio 2008 Professional. Perhaps I will get the sparkle back .

Reply #28

Pogo — Fri, 02 May 2008 01:39:14 GMT

Wow, yeah - I don't think I've done any real coding since end of 1999 or beginning of 2000... Except for the excel stuff but that's not really coding it's more like gentle manipulation of weak formulas... lol, Pogo

Reply #27

MillionsWanted — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:10:18 GMT

I learned myself basic on an old 8-bit computer called BBC Electron in the 80s and learned Turbo Pascal on college in the early 90s.

Don't think I have done any real coding since 1997. I would like to start programming again, just need to get the inspiration. The inspiration might be if I could come up with a good prediction method for the lotteries, or I want to turn my Excel statistics sheet into software.

Reply #26

time*treat — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:23:49 GMT

I haven't started in my C++, yet, but M$ just announced they will discontinue supporting VB6, so it looks like I'll have to eventually learn something new as later OSes may not have the runtimes I might need.

I don't intend for my next OS to come from Redmond, though.

Reply #25

Guru101 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:51:32 GMT

I learned Visual Basic in high school, but I'm self taught in C++. I'm very glad I learned C++ though because I added so much stuff to my system that required so much speed, that eventually, when coded into a Visual Basic program, the program would stop responding. The C++ version takes hardly any time at all.

Reply #24

Pogo — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:50:58 GMT

Learned HEX code for 6800 6811 in college... Learned C, C++, and G++ also at college... Taught myself most of excel - work in progress... Would love to learn something like visual c# or some visual basic, just can't seem to find the time - eventually, Pogo

Reply #23

Todd — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:29:03 GMT

Self-taught.

Reply #22

JADELottery — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:22:46 GMT

Oh, and also... if you don't have a C++ complier, you can get one at http://www.bloodshed.net/. This is referenced in another book by the same publisher in the same subject matter, Learn C in 21 days. There you can find a free C++ complier. Something simple for testing code from the book.

Reply #21

JADELottery — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:16:07 GMT

Great, hope you'll get the hang of it. Took me a little while, but it's working out well. I think with the basic understanding of programming semantics and form, you should get it too.

Reply #20

time*treat — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:07:28 GMT

I knew then that only people who had no problem signing false statements would be able to win the contest

Yeah, they probably are the same people who got those liar-loan no-doc mortgages, too.

Reply #19

Mike Frazier — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:07:13 GMT

I am almost completely self-taught; I think the only thing I got out of taking a few computer classes was the idea of modular programming.

I was doing school in the late 1970s when a friend of mine showed me a puzzle contest he subscribed to. Every couple of weeks there was a new puzzle, and there was a valuable prize to be won. I had no experience with computers at all, at this point, but from what I had heard about them it seemed that a computer would be able to solve the puzzles handily. I... [ More ]

Reply #18

time*treat — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:45:04 GMT

Heh, I had forgotten about assembly. I did pretty good at that. I just picked up a C++ in 21 book (4th ed.), so I'll see if I can learn a new trick or two in the next couple of months.

Reply #17

JADELottery — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:52:04 GMT

time*treat,

C++ is more powerful and faster than higher level languages like BASIC, Quick Basic, Visual Basic or COBOL. It's close enough to Assembly language to be almost Assembly, but without the cryptic 3 or 4 letter mnemonic. Plus it helps in organizing code in a way that was always hard to do in Assembly. Assembly language is just one step above the actual machine code, which is just 1's and 0's. C++ is just one step above Assembly, likewise. In addition, C++ is far more flexible than hi... [ More ]

Reply #16

time*treat — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:00:25 GMT

I've never been good at C, or cared for its syntax, but I have a few sam's books so I figure they could teach it decent.

JADE, what is C letting you do easier than whatever language you were using before

Reply #15

JADELottery — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:31:43 GMT

I can now add C++ to my arsenal programming skills. After a few weeks of self study, I think I'm getting it. I've been working with a variety of documentation, but the best one I've found so far is SAMS Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days, 5th edition, Jesse Liberty, Bradley Jones.

Reply #14

time*treat — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:00:56 GMT

Looks like most of the really sharp people here have done exactly that. Wow.

Reply #13

RJOh — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 04:55:31 GMT

There are plenty of people who covert ideas into programs every day, and they do it for a living. People who whine about not finding anyone to covert their ideas into a program have not bother to contact one of these people because they probably know their ideas is not worth someones time if they expect to be paid for it.

Reply #12

time*treat — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 01:44:23 GMT

No, jxp, not picking on you.

Reply #11

justxploring — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 01:31:40 GMT

Are you picking on me?

Order in the court! Order in the court.

Okay, I'll have a burger, medium rare a side of fries.

Anyway, I thought you said computer cod. No wonder this whole thread sounded fishy to me.

Reply #10

Coin Toss — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:21:31 GMT

I was in a CIS program at a community college (Computer Information Systems, not coding) and learned some things, but then I took some Adult ed. classes and they made a lot more sense - hands on stuff, no reports to write, and no very confusing textbook tutorials to go through.

As for the coding, I wish you all well, but we're yet to see a jackpot winner or anyone making a living off of even pick 3.

Personally, in re: to lotto, I'll stick to paper and pencil coding , it's more fun to wo... [ More ]

Reply #9

time*treat — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:47:04 GMT

I started this thread because I was wading through a pile of ... excuses, on another topic, and I needed to get some neutral data on this particular point.

I was also testing a theory regarding non-coders who have trouble finding someone to convert their ideas into a program. It seems some have trouble converting their ideas into coherence, too.

Reply #8

justxploring — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:27:16 GMT

I took some computer courses years after I finished college. I took evening courses after work at local colleges. (late 70s, early-mid 80s) I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now.

I completed BASIC, COBOL, and dropped out of Fortran before I had a nervous breakdown.

It's been almost 30 years, but when I start to see a lot of zeros and ones, I hide in the closet. The rest is a total blank to me now. When I hear algorithmic language I think of our former Vice Pr... [ More ]

Reply #7

Newb — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:55:30 GMT

Ah but it's not the size that matters but what you do with it.

Remember the huge 16k ram paks that you slotted into the back of the machine. And the games use to be on rom cartridges. Remember when you could program your own games and sell them

Reply #6

time*treat — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:03:37 GMT

I am surprised (and amused) that so many people learned by self-study.

I had a VIC-20, too. Massive 3583 bytes of free memory.

Reply #5

runningrooster — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:12:36 GMT

right now, im quite a newbie ni coding. but i trying to study through online tutorials, books, etc.

Reply #4

Newb — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:47:01 GMT

I started with Basic on a Vic20. Then moved to an Amiga and learned Assembly language. Bought a PC and learned about visual basic. Then moved onto C++ and Java while doing a Computer Science degree. Learned a lot about data structures and algorithms which speeds up programs a lot.

Reply #3

LottoMining — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 22:39:39 GMT

I'm mostly self taught, though learning on the job over the last 10 or so years comes in second. I'm still climbing the mountain of learning new technology/techniques and have the energy to continue with it. Books, online content and magazines have been the most helpful since things change frequently, once you're out of school the content gets dated rather quickly. My next door neighbor was a Computer Science major from the US Naval Academy and since she didn't use it for 5 to 7 years her e... [ More ]

Reply #2

RJOh — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 22:18:54 GMT

I'm totally self taught. I started out with a TI-99 and move to a Commode64. Both used their version of Basic so later when I bought a Tandy1000(an IBM compatible), I only had to learn to the extra features in Tandy Basic which was similar to GWBasic which I started using after up from the 8088 Tandy 1000.

I'm still using GWBasic, but I did invest in Visual Basic a few years back but never took the time to learn it, besides I would have to rewrite all my programs. I downloaded a trial co... [ More ]

Reply #1

JADELottery — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:42:16 GMT

Part School and part Self learned. The time I was in High School I learned some, then when I was in 2 year Technical College I learned some. However, most of the stuff I know is Self instruction; sources from books, software, internet and other people.

Where did you learn coding?

time*treat — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:31:36 GMT

I'm wondering how people got to their current level of programming skill. I learned far, far more from the books I got online and studying on my own, than from the campus bookstore and the college profs.