Re: [BLUG] Looking to study further in computer science

Comments below:

Ben Shewmaker wrote:
> when I was studying electronic music at the University of Miami, their
> big thing was teaching the fundamentals of digital/analog audio.
When I was at Purdue, all the computer engineers got the same basic
classes on electronics and semiconductors that the electrical engineers
got. The EEs got more semiconductors and analog/digital signals classes
later, and we moved to hardware design and systems programming once we
had a solid base.
> How do different types of synthesis work? What about MIDI?
When you understand how the underlying layers work, you can use them
more effectively. That applies almost universally.
> (and of course, many debates on why you just can't beat the sound of
> a true analog synth, like a Moog).
And many debates why you can't beat the audio quality and dynamic range
of vinyl?
> This leads me to another question: What are some of your favorite
> resources for programming fundamentals? Books, blogs, websites?
Wikipedia is a great start because it helps you know what to Google for.
I learned my C and C++ stuff from classes, but I learned PHP by Googling
around. For web development, w3schools.com is a great tutorial site for
the basics.
> Or perhaps I can also ask what are important fundamental concepts I
> should grasp? I am eager to start practicing in any number of
> different languages, but I really want to make sure I understand why
> things work the way they do. I don't want to end up a mediocre
> programmer, slaving away in Java day after day building ucky software
> because I didn't build a solid base.
You can write good code in Java, but it's a lot harder to do. I'm not a
fan of "easy" programming languages, because they let people get lazy.
Hypocrite that I am, I'm also a fan of Perl, which is often derided as a
"write-only" language.

Like I said before, I think everyone should learn C and write in it for
a while. If nothing else, it makes you appreciate the more modern
languages.
>
> Thanks again!
>
> Ben
>
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