From: "Matthew K. Williams" <matt@...>
Date: 2010-04-06T01:14:06+09:00
Subject: Re: Novice school teacher seeking help in programming

On Tue, 6 Apr 2010, Hilary Bailey wrote:

> Matthew K. Williams wrote:
>> On Tue, 6 Apr 2010, Hilary Bailey wrote:
>>
>>>> Perhaps this book is more appropriate for an absolute beginner?
>>>>
>>>> http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram
>>>>
>>>> Jesus.
>>>
>>> Jesus, the book is just as similar to Beginning Ruby From Novice to
>>> Professional. Do i have to learn C and or C++ before even thinking of
>>> using Ruby or attempting to write a software?
>>>
>>
>> No, you don't need to learn C.  I just read the first couple of chapters
>> of the Pine book, and didn't see anything relating to C, but your
>> mileage
>> may vary.
>>
>> Taking a step back, what sort of program are you wishing to write?  What
>> sort of problem are you hoping to solve?
>>
>> Matt
>
> Hi Matt,
>
> It is a program that will evaluate the progress of a school district.

Ok, I assume you need to enter data and perform some sort of calculation.
Does the data already exist in some format, or will it be entered 
manually?

Is the data grouped by school, teacher, etc?  How is the data organized?

Do you want the data to be able to be saved and/or accumulated over time?

How do you want users to interract with the program?  On a command line or 
via a web interface?  Will there be more than one user?

What sort of report(s) and/or response to the user do you wish to provide?

Lots of questions, I know, but these are things to consider in the 
process.  I've found it useful to think at a high level about the 
following:

1. What I have (data, etc.)
2. What I need (output and other requirements)
3. How I get there (calculations, etc.)

Once you have an idea of how to answer these questions, you can proceed 
from there.

Matt