Know Nothing at SDD (1 Viewer)

[ricometa]

Alright guys, i know nothing in SDD
i try and do some work and learn but my teacher sucks big time and i am really behind
i bought the excel book and i really nee to catch up.
i have the major work which i havnt started and dont know what to do and all these pracs. due
i have no idea what an array is and linear searches and random access files are. I dont know how to use visual basic and all this crap.
.
i know i dont have much time to pull my act together but im trying but my teacher isnt helping and i read the excel book i get the logic but i dont know how to rite code and use visual basic. I also have the program installeed on my computer and the visual basic (red and white book) at home.
.
this is the only subject which i am failing i need help big time
is there a book i can buy which can aid me big time?

reply ASAP plzz

 

[p4e81]

in my opinion, the excel is all you need for this subject. you are gonna be tested for only the theory in the hsc.. all that vb crap (or watever programming language) is used only for the major project, which is internally marked.

 

[alcalder]

Alright guys, i know nothing in SDD

Actually you probably know more than you think. So don't panic, work from there.

i have no idea what an array is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Array

An array is just like a list of values or list of a list of values.
OK let's perhaps look at the dates of Sundays in a year. Let's call the array YearSundays.

There are 52 Sundays in a year (say). So this array is size 52.

YearSundays(1) = the date of the first Sunday
YearSundays(2) = the date of the second Sunday

and so on

Let's look at another type of array: you and some friends. You have an array called MyClass. Say there are 20 in your class, so there are 20 elements in this array. Now each one of these has a set of data to go with it: name, age, gender, favourite ice cream flavour.

MyClass(1,n) = name of nth person
MyClass(2,n) = age of nth person
MyClass(3,n) = gender of nth person
MyClass(4,n) = favourite ice-cream flavour of nth person

and linear searches

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_search

This may help. In VB you would use If...Then statements.

and random access files are

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_access_file

A random access file is something that you can jump to without having to go from the start. Wiki describes it as the difference between a tape and CD. Or you could think of it as looking for a book in the library. You can either start at the door and look at every book (sequential search) or go to the database and find out the exact number of the book and go directly there.

The great thing about arrays is, they are random access. Say you wanted to know about the member of your class (from the MyClass array above) who is sitting in seat 14. You can access their name by using the array value MyClass(1,14). You didn't have to go through each of the values in the array until you found the 14th person in the list. (Actually, going through each of the people on the list is also a linear search=sequential search.)

I dont know how to use visual basic and all this crap.

You can't go by the "Visual Basic X for Dummies" series. They are certainly excellent. Also, a great tip. If you want to do stuff in Microsoft Excel, you can record macros and then modify them.


It might be hard for your teacher to help you if you are struggling big time because they might not quite know where to start.

So, with your major work, any ideas at all? Have you perhaps written out a problem and then worked through the logic of it. You can't program until you have done that and know kind of where you are going. Do you know how to do a flow diagram?

Work out your inputs and outputs? What is the thing supposed to do?

PM/message me if you need some more input. I may not teach SDD but I was a Software Project Engineer for some years and I program in VB (in Excel).

Hope this helps, at any rate.

 

[ricometa]

You can't go by the "Visual Basic X for Dummies" series

wait do u mean can? cause u rote cant?
ill go to the book shop tmrw and hav a scan around

add me on msn - ricometa@kcb.net.au

like i study every night till like 1am but the thing is my brain is fucked up i dont remember stuff long, same with maths ill do the whole exercise and then next day i will b fuck how do i do this again.

so yer thanks guy for all your help, and trust me i really dont know alot
i know what flowcharts and ipo charts and some stuff is
i know integer bollient and those stuff but yerr

 

[priesty]

like i study every night till like 1am but the thing is my brain is fucked up i dont remember stuff long

There's your problem. Too much study, you're trying to force too much into urself and that's why you're not retaining it. Just because someone studies for 6 hours a night it doesnt make them smarter or more knowledgeable about something. Take breaks. Study when youre alert and concentrating and if you find yourself re-reading paragraphs over and over and over and over because ur not getting it - STOP and don't bother going on. You can only take in so much each study session, anything extra just gets thrown by the wayside in the long run.

Now, with SDD.... sit with your teacher and ask them to help you one on one first and go over everything that you're not understanding in class. If this doesn't help and if your teacher makes you even more confused then you're just going to have to take it upon urself to learn the stuff.

The resources section on this site as well as on HSC-Online and just use the internet (Wikipedia/Google) generally to find all the different theoretical aspects of the SDD Course - that worked wonders for me last year.

Good Luck.

 

[pritnep]

Listen to Priesty he certainly knows his stuff.

You maybe 'studing' but as they say study smart not harder. People can say they have been studying for 6+ hours a day or something crazy but studying isn't so much about the hours you put in but more what you learn and achieve. If your studying and don't remember what you studied a few hours latter then there isn't much point to studying.

SDD is really one of those subjects that you are either really good at or really bad at and it is more a self directed course where you really need to get your head around concepts by yourself as some of the concepts are hard for teachers to teach.

As for VB well that doesn't matter so much. Maybe for your major project you could use another programming language instead as you shouldn't be limited to VB.

 

[alcalder]

wait do u mean can? cause u rote cant?
ill go to the book shop tmrw and hav a scan around

add me on msn - ricometa@kcb.net.au

like i study every night till like 1am but the thing is my brain is fucked up i dont remember stuff long, same with maths ill do the whole exercise and then next day i will b fuck how do i do this again.

so yer thanks guy for all your help, and trust me i really dont know alot
i know what flowcharts and ipo charts and some stuff is
i know integer bollient and those stuff but yerr

I mean the Dummies books are really really good. Have a look and see if it what will help you.

Unfortunately I don't have MSN, only YIM. But message me here on BOS and I'll message right back.

And yes, like the others said, don't study so much. Only do an hour at most at a time (half an hour is better) and then get out and do something else. Your brain will congitate over it as you play sport or do something else. Make it something fun that you enjoy doing (kind of like a reward).

I really think that HSC students should do more than just study during the HSC year because it allows the brain to refresh and retain more. You may study less but you will remember more. I was described as a someone with more time on my hands than an RTA worker during my HSC year, but that really helped me remember stuff. ALSO, getting more sleep will help your brain. You need that sleep to be awake and understand school. Don't feel bad about needing sleep. Try getting to bed at 9pm for a week and then see how your understanding improves.

 

[Winston]

Here is an approach which you should take. There really is not many many things in the course to learn, there are the fundamentals, like for example:

- Control Structures
- Algorithms/Psuedocode
- Sorting
- Searching
- Arrays
- Depending on your optional topic, you maybe focusing on the digital circuit side of things or the history of programming languages.


What i recommend you soley to do right now is, dump all your software stuff together, organize it, organize your life first of all, spend your weekend doing this if you can, just a day would do, jot down exactly the core things are you need to brush up on.

Set some goals with tackling one or two per week, and focus on them, do not go jumping around thinking "hmm maybe i should do some algorithms today", focus on one thing at a time, master it to a degree which you feel confident with it, then move on, and by the time you know it, in a matter of three weeks you probably will be competant in 4 - 5 aspects of software design, and feel even more confident, remember don't get frustrated when you read up on a section of text where they start using jargon like "the array is.. blah blah", don't go "ahh fuck what's an array, wtf, oh shit, i give up", if it's a pressing keyword that you need to get out of the way before continuing on, google it, wikipedia it, etc, or ask here, and move on.

Trust me, it is not as hard as you think if you take it a step at a time, you have plenty of time still till the HSC, if it makes you feel better, people who go to uni, studying computing, who have never touched SDD or done anything programming related, would have to cover these sort of topics in just weeks and be fairly decent at it. You have so much time to do it, hang in there.

So you might think, how do i set a goal.

For example, the topic of Arrays, search up sites etc, and read about them, read about arrays fundamentally, then read about multi-dimension arrays, and what types of arrays there are, once you've got your grip on it, you will feel so much more comfortable, and when people talk about it in class would make more sense too.

 

[FromDeeEast]

mate r u fucken serious? just read ur damn books this is by far the easiest subject i do

 

[ValiumMm]

How is this the easiest subject. I seriously go to every lesson learning nothing. I dont have a clue whats going on about psuedocode or whatever . the theory is fair black and white as u just have to study it but psudocode should go die its lame and i cannot write any no matter how easy it is.

 

[Legham]

It's definetely the easiest subject i do aswell, but thats cause i struggle to even pay attention in english and physics and Ext2 maths are definetely harder than SDD.

But then, im 100% self taught because i have no class or teacher, so it might be easier for me.. or it might be harder!

 

[pogostick]

mate r u fucken serious? just read ur damn books this is by far the easiest subject i do

ditto

my teacher sucks hardcore.
just figure the stuff out its pretty easy.

 

[ricometa]

ahhhh okok im getting the hang of it now, for my major work im working on a power supply calculator

and yerr i screwd up stage 1 which was 10%
but i fink its too late now, ive done enough damage to my hsc
i might need to repeat

 

[Casmira]

SDD was pretty piss easy from memory, but the teachers are generally pathetic making it hard. you gotta source it all on your own, i did most my own study and got 88 for hsc (i didnt even answer half my option topic!! fuck that logic stuff lol)

 

[DeathB4Life]

imo the best way to learn the subject is to get the feel for a basic level of coding then just have a read fest through the excel book and student responses.

have a scan through some of the past papers. youll notice that there isnt really that much they can ask of you besides a few definitions, doing some basic coding and then just copy/pasting a response for why x implementation/sorting method is suitable for y situation.

it seems to be a trend that SDD teachers generally are not quite good at teaching the subject, but there really isnt that much material to cover.

 

[p4e81]

in this course u learn how to write bs more than anything else