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For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))
Turning bright delegates into bright and knowledgable ones

"Bright" does not mean "Knowledgable". Almost without exception, our delegates are bright or very bright. But, by definition, they arrive with us for a training course with a lack of knowlegde. And it's a real joy to be able to pass on that knowledge to them - empowering them so that they leave knowledgable, bright and inspired too.

Implanting knowledge for someone who's been using that knowledge for many years means going back to first principles, and explaining things that the someone usually takes for granted - automatically assumes.

On Monday, I started with a "first principles" program in Java - or rather, it was my second example after a program which does no more that print out a message saying "here I am" or some other constant message such as "Hello World".

The first principles program sets up some memory locations with names (for easy reference later) that are called "variables" because their value can be varied as the program runs. Having defined the name(s) or memory location(s) and desribed the type of data to be held in them (numbers or something else, whole numbers or ones with decimal parts too?), those locations have their initial values set. And this can be done in one or mutliple statements.

Multiple statement way:

  float height ;
  height = 1.78f;


One statement way:

  float weight = 76.5f;

Calculations and chamges can then be written with operators such as + - * and / (for add, subtract, multiply and divide). These are not always done from left to right - there are "precedence rules" which control the order of things, and these precedences can be forced by the use of round brackets which say "do this bit grouped in the brackets first".

An assignment statement - that's a code chunk with an "=" sign in it - says "work out the result of the expression on the right and save it to the variable named on the left:

  float bmi;
  bmi = weight / (height * height);


That's good - our calculation is done. But one small issue remains - the result is held in the computer's memory and isn't shown to the person running the program - we must output it somehow. Here's an example of how we might do that, adding a bit of text and some new lines too so that the result doesn't get lost into the other text being displayed:

  System.out.print("BMI is ");
  System.out.print(bmi);
  System.out.println();


For people who have programmed before, I've just written an awful lot of text which explains things they know so well that they assume. But for newcomers, this sort of thing is a revalation.

In all of the programming languages we teach, we offer a "LEARNING to program in xxxxx" course, which starts off with a day coving these basic principles and making sure that are delegates are really happy with them. And we also offer a "xxxxx programming" course for delegates who have written some programs before, but in different languages. Such delegates will be familiar with the principles described above (but not necessarily the syntax of the particular langauge) already.

By providing an alternative course that's got an extra day on the front for complete novices, we ensure that we provide vital grounding for newcomers, but at the same time don't make more exprienced coders waste their time and money (and get bored too) sitting thorough things they already know. It really works!




The complete source code example (program) from which I have quoted above is on our web site [here]. For a list of all our public training courses, see [here]. Courses last from 1 to 5 days, and run at our Melksham, Wiltshire, UK training centre. For delegates who don't live nearby, we have on site hotel rooms available so that they can stay with us during the course.
(written 2011-07-21)

 
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
J703 - Java - Variables
  [127] Conversion and coercion in Java - (2004-11-22)
  [1448] Question on division (Java) - Also Perl, PHP, Python ... - (2007-11-28)
  [2148] Variable scope in Java Servlets and other web applications - (2009-05-01)
  [2153] Class Loading and Variable Conversion in Java - (2009-05-02)
  [3038] Setting up individual variables, and arrays, in Java - some commented examples - (2010-11-09)
  [3041] Java - basic rules for arithmetic, variables and conversion - (2010-11-10)
  [3278] Do I need to initialise variables - programming in C, C++, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby or Java. - (2011-05-05)
  [3917] BODMAS - the order a computer evaluates arithmetic expressions - (2012-11-09)
  [4324] Learning to program - variables and constants - (2014-11-22)
  [4345] Incrementing a variable in Java - Pre and Post Increment - (2014-12-08)

G300 - Well House Consultants - Public Courses
  [172] Public courses in London - (2005-01-07)
  [181] Maximum number of trainees on a course - (2005-01-18)
  [387] Training course plans for 2006 - (2005-07-23)
  [646] PHP - London course, Melksham Course, Evening course - (2006-03-14)
  [845] Course scheduling and Geekmas - are they traditions yet? - (2006-08-26)
  [933] Course Joining package - updated - (2006-11-20)
  [1035] Longer hours and better value courses - (2007-01-15)
  [1414] What we teach - expained for the non-technical - (2007-10-28)
  [1420] The Learning Perl crew, October 2007 - (2007-11-03)
  [1565] Languages compared - based on developer community size - (2008-03-05)
  [1615] PHP training courses every month - (2008-04-18)
  [1693] July to December 2008 - Open Source training schedule - (2008-07-01)
  [1751] Public Training Course Dates until July 2009 - (2008-08-13)
  [1836] Next in the sequence - courses next year (2009) - (2008-10-12)
  [1857] November and December Public Course Schedule - (2008-10-27)
  [1929] 2009 - Hotel, Meeting, Training Course prices - (2008-12-07)
  [1968] Review of 2008 - (2008-12-31)
  [2048] Learning to program in PHP, Python, Java or Lua ... - (2009-02-19)
  [2332] Formation, des langages Open Source - (2009-08-09)
  [2333] Formaci[83][c2]ón, de los lenguajes de c[83][c2]ódigo abierto - (2009-08-09)
  [2334] Formazione, Open Source computer lingue - (2009-08-09)
  [2335] Ausbildung, die Open-Source-Sprachen - (2009-08-09)
  [2336] Forma[83][c2]ç[83][c2]ão, Open Source computador l[83][c2]ínguas - (2009-08-09)
  [2337] Opleiding, Open Source computertalen - (2009-08-09)
  [2338] Uddannelse, Open Source computer sprog - (2009-08-09)
  [2339] Oppl[83][c2]æring, Open Source datamaskinen spr[83][c2]åk - (2009-08-09)
  [2340] ldning, Open Source dator spr[83][c2]åk - (2009-08-09)
  [2341] Koulutus, Open Source tietokone kielill[83][c2]ä - (2009-08-09)
  [2558] Happy new decade - and course and hotel prices for 2010 - (2010-01-01)
  [2736] Perl Course FAQ - (2010-04-23)
  [2839] Software versions used - June 2010 - (2010-06-30)
  [2881] Tailoring of courses to meet customers needs - how it works - (2010-07-21)
  [2927] Announcing 2011 Open Source Training courses - dates and prices - (2010-08-18)
  [2928] Public (scheduled) or private course? Book direct, or through a third party? - (2010-08-19)
  [2942] Open Source Programming - Training Course Schedule - (2010-08-31)
  [2965] Testimonials - Well House Consultants Open Source courses - (2010-09-21)
  [3021] Courses for late 2010 and early 2011 - (2010-10-30)
  [3071] Well House Price list, January to March 2011 - (2010-11-25)
  [3074] Running a course ... what if the tutor isn't well? - (2010-11-29)
  [3078] Royal Wedding. How William and Catherine have changed our schedule - (2010-12-02)
  [3129] Extra courses - C and C++ - (2011-01-12)
  [3160] Extra courses - Advanced PHP, MySQL and Lua - (2011-02-07)
  [3205] Open Source (Public) courses - PHP, Tcl, SQL, Python, C and C++ in Melksham, Wiltshire, UK - (2011-03-18)
  [3219] How do I become a Linux System Administrator? - (2011-03-28)
  [3358] Upcoming Programming courses ... High Summer, 2011 - (2011-07-15)
  [3401] Open Source Training Schedule - learn a programming language - in Autumn 2011 or 2012 - (2011-08-20)
  [3528] December courses - PHP, Python, Perl - and a weekend Lua course - (2011-11-24)
  [3559] Well House Consultants - Open Source Programming Courses for 2012 - (2011-12-21)
  [3573] New in Java 7 - and why we are not running public Java 7 courses - (2012-01-08)
  [3637] April, May and June 2012 - Public Open Source Programming Courses - (2012-03-04)
  [3823] Know Python or PHP? Want to learn Perl too? - (2012-07-31)
  [3829] Training courses - rest of 2012, 2013 and January 2014 - (2012-08-06)
  [3876] October to December 2012 - Public Courses - (2012-09-30)
  [3903] Python Programming class for delegates who have already self-taught the basics - (2012-10-25)
  [3911] How well do you know Perl and / or Python? - (2012-11-04)
  [3924] The bedrooms at Well House Manor - (2012-11-16)
  [3964] What is coming up from Well House in 2013 - public Open Source / IT courses. - (2012-12-28)
  [3983] Upcoming courses at Well House Manor - Ruby, Python, Perl - (2013-01-19)
  [4015] Upcoming courses and availabiity - (2013-02-22)
  [4172] Public courses - Python, PHP, Perl, Ruby, Lua, Tcl, C and C++ - autumn 2013 and through 2014 - (2013-09-13)
  [4197] Python and Tcl courses, November, UK (Melksham) ... just a few places left - (2013-10-23)
  [4230] Well House Consultants - course prices for 2014 - (2013-12-26)
  [4279] Upcoming public courses from Well House Consultants - (2014-05-31)
  [4300] Public courses - Autumn 2014 and 2015 - (2014-09-19)
  [4358] A brilliant finish to 2014 training and business guests, and a look to 2015 - (2014-12-20)
  [4375] Final examples for 2014 - and a look at our 2015 training course options - (2014-12-31)
  [4408] Additional Python courses added to our schedule - (2015-01-29)
  [4416] Challenging the IT course business model - (2015-02-05)
  [4434] Public training courses - upcoming dates - (2015-02-21)
  [4519] Course Schedule - October 2015 to June 2016 - (2015-09-27)
  [4564] Perl, PHP, Python, Lua, Tcl, C++, Ruby - final public courses for 2015 - (2015-10-30)
  [4689] Training Course schedule for summer and autumn 2016 - (2016-05-30)
  [4705] Course dates - from October 2016 to December 2017 - (2016-09-25)
  [4739] A year of changes for Lisa and Graham Ellis, and Well House - (2017-05-27)
  [4751] Final day of training at Well House Manor - Python, Lua, Tcl and C/C++ continue at The Spa, Melksham - (2017-06-30)
  [4769] Python, Tcl, Lua and other Open Source programming courses for 2018 - (2017-12-31)


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Specification, Design, Implementation, Testing and Documentation - stages of a (Java) programming project
Some other Articles
Local Council leads bans on many activities
Well House Manor hotel, Melksham - recommended to you by our customers
Google +1 - what is it?
Specification, Design, Implementation, Testing and Documentation - stages of a (Java) programming project
Turning bright delegates into bright and knowledgable ones
Dogs Legs on the Dogleg
Should we take sponsored adverts on our site?
Swindon, Chippenham and Melksham to Weymouth - Sunday Train Service Starts
Blowing our own trumpet - MySQL resources
Melksham Carnival, 2011 - pictures
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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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