The TeachMeTom Show

Lists and Arrays

"Managing data" often means managing lists of similar items.
In this episode, Tom explains why lists are such an important concept in computer programming.
In fact, so important, that they have its own kind of structure in most programming languages - called "Arrays".

Working For Startups

What is it like working for startups in the software industry?
Tom shares his thoughts from working for several different kinds of startups in the past 25 years.

Numbers and texts... oh my.

There are different kinds of data that our computer program operates with.
And it's important to "tell" the computer which type of data we want to store in what variable. 
So let's talk about data types today, and why it's important to "declare" them in our computer program.
(As a bonus, you get my super-secret formula to calculate the age of a person in days...! :-) ) 

Where to store all that data?

We need some place to store all that data that our program needs to work properly.
Let's talk about variables - those little compartments in a computer's memory. What are they, how are they identified, and how do you keep track of what's stored where.

Working for big corporations as a software developer

It's story time!
In this episode, Tom shares his experiences working for a big multi-national corporation as a software developer. What was it like, what were the pros and cons.

Conditionals - cooking recipe vs. computer program

There's an important difference between a cooking recipe and a computer program... Let's talk about conditionals.
 

The main purpose of a computer program

Taking data in, getting data out - what's in between? Let's talk about processing data.
 

What IS a computer program, anyway?

Why is a computer program like a cooking recipe? What's the difference between writing and executing a computer program? 

What is Output?

Let's learn about "Output"...
What goes on in a computer programmer's mind when they are thinking of the term "output"?
And - what are examples of output being processed by computer programs or electronic devices in your day-to-day life?
 
 

Input data examples

Computer programs are all about taking data in, processing that data, and getting the processed data out again. 
In this episode, we talk about examples of different kinds of input data in your daily life.
If you want to ask Tom a question to answer in one of the next episodes, go to https://teachmetom.com/asktom/