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printing records of the linked list
Added on 15.05.2010 at 22:52 by runchman

I've posted a new video on printing the items in a linked list:
printing our linked list
 

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Yahoo says become a software engineer
Added on 12.05.2010 at 23:35 by runchman

Yahoo today had an article "5 high-paying, low stress jobs". You can read the actual article here, but the paragraph below was what caught my eye. See, there's a reason to learn this programming stuff! The only drawback is that you get referred to as a 'tech geek'. Oh well.

Computer Software Engineer

If you're a tech geek seeking a...

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linked list help
Added on 12.05.2010 at 21:56 by runchman

For more explanation of how to deal with adding records to a linked list, see the following videos:
adding a record to the head of a linked list
adding a record in the middle of the list
adding a record at the end of the list...

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finding a string within a string (a substring)
Added on 6.05.2010 at 22:29 by runchman

Suppose you want to search for a string within another string - for instance, you want to find if "house of pancakes" occurs anyplace within a string variable.

To do this, you use the function strstr (what I call "string string"). It's used as follows:

#include <string.h>

char * ptrToSubString;
char someTestString[100];

strcpy(someTestString,"welcome to joe's house of pancakes - we hope you have a great day");

ptrToSubString =...
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how to use strcat to join 2 strings
Added on 3.05.2010 at 22:35 by runchman

Suppose you want to take a string and add it onto the end of another string.

For example, you have 2 strings, "abcd" and "efgh", and you want to join them into one string, "abcdefgh".

The function you use for this is strcat(string1,string2). It takes string2 and appends it onto the end of string1.

Consider the following sample code:

    char str1[1000];
    char * str2 = "test of...
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What does a software guy do all day?
Added on 24.04.2010 at 23:32 by runchman

Just what does a software guy, or computer programmer, actually do during a typical day at work?

In short, it depends.

It depends on what industry the programmer is in.

It depends on what stage of his or her career the programmer is at.

It depends on what project is going on, and what stage the project is going through.

It depends on how motivated the engineer is on that particular day.

So what gets done on a typical day?...

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The C ternary operator
Added on 24.04.2010 at 23:06 by runchman

The C ternary operator is a statement that allows you to put an "if..then..else" construct all on one line. It looks something like this:

x > 5 ? x+=1 : x-=1;

Let's break down what this does. The statement in general terms looks like this:

conditional ? true_operator : false_operator;

And if expanded out to its equivalent statement is:

if (conditional) {
    true_operator;
}
else {
    false_operator;
}

So our first...

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7 keys to learning programming
Added on 17.04.2010 at 23:13 by runchman

Consider these 7 keys to following through on your plan to learn programming:

1. Take it one step at a time - As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. No, you aren't building Rome. But programming isn't trivial. Give yourself permission for it to take some time. Nothing worthwhile - a successful marriage, well-raised kids, to mention two - is easy. But worth it, yes.

2....

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programming course
Added on 14.04.2010 at 20:44 by runchman

What are some of the things you'll learn in my computer programming course? 

Variables - things in computer code that hold values

Control flow - how your program changes direction depending on what happens

Looping - various ways to do things a bunch of times when your program requires it.

file input / output - how to read and write to files on your computer...

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Video, but not the Video Professor
Added on 13.04.2010 at 14:17 by runchman

A few of the friends that I've mentioned my instructional website to have commented "Oh yeah, like that video... that video guy....", to which I respond "Yeah, that video professor guy, right, kind of like that."

Except not like that at all.

From what I've read, his business model is to get you to buy a product, and then to make it very challenging for you to either cancel your subscription, or to get your money back if you aren't satisfied.

Now for a...

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