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Ask HN: What laptop should I buy for programming and path to take?

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Re: Ask HN: What laptop should I buy for programming and path to take?

#11

Post by coledubz »

Start with Ruby, build some command line apps. Make a chess/checkers/other complicated game to cement in object oriented programming. Move to Rails. Learn some SQL(sqlzoo is probably enough). Rails has a lot of magic, if something seems magical learn what it does until it is no longer magical. After that, add some javascript/jQuery to your rails apps. Once you feel comfortable with that move onto a frontend framework like Backbone or Angular.

http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Ruby-Novice-Professional-Exp... this is a good book for the Ruby path.

http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ This is the go-to rails tutorial. But beware that he doesn't explain things in super fine detail, so if Hartl tells you to do something that you don't understand stop and do some research on whats happening. Expect to spend a day or two on each chapter.

Re: Ask HN: What laptop should I buy for programming and path to take?

#13

Post by joshfenmore »

coledubz wrote: post #11

Start with Ruby, build some command line apps. Make a chess/checkers/other complicated game to cement in object oriented programming. Move to Rails. Learn some SQL(sqlzoo is probably enough). Rails has a lot of magic, if something seems magical learn what it does until it is no longer magical. After that, add some javascript/jQuery to your rails apps. Once you feel comfortable with that move onto a frontend framework…

A lot of people recommended me ruby but I feel like I'm loosing the foundation of programming and maybe somewhere along the line I won't understand something because I skipped it.

Re: Ask HN: What laptop should I buy for programming and path to take?

#14

Post by joshfenmore »

bindley wrote: post #9
joshfenmore wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the reply. Luckily I am not gonna start from scratch scratch since I have a little experience with front-end and I am "familiar" so to speak, with the programming "environment" but I never really dived into it (a very stupid decision). So for: 1. Some people told me I should start with C and go on from there, while others told me to start with C# or Python. Am I wasting time with C? I've seen some articles…

I am actually working for a startup who is prepping an app for investors approval, and what we have found is speed, and progress is important. I would definitely recommend RoR because the speed to development is so critical. With Rails it isn't unrealistic to have a MVP within 3 months. Especially with 10-15 hours a day. And you can get a macbook air for around $900-$1300. That's all you really need, nothing fancy. A…

I've seen some online courses like CS50 with C and MIT with Python. The question is why are they starting with those programming languages and not going straight to high level languages?

That is one of my main worries actually. I want to have a solid foundation and principles of how I should build something. Or is my thinking flawed?

Re: Ask HN: What laptop should I buy for programming and path to take?

#15

Post by sergiotapia »

joshfenmore wrote: post #13
coledubz wrote: post #11

Start with Ruby, build some command line apps. Make a chess/checkers/other complicated game to cement in object oriented programming. Move to Rails. Learn some SQL(sqlzoo is probably enough). Rails has a lot of magic, if something seems magical learn what it does until it is no longer magical. After that, add some javascript/jQuery to your rails apps. Once you feel comfortable with that move onto a frontend framework…

A lot of people recommended me ruby but I feel like I'm loosing the foundation of programming and maybe somewhere along the line I won't understand something because I skipped it.

This is correct. Start with something like C#, Java or Go.

Re: Ask HN: What laptop should I buy for programming and path to take?

#16

Post by nikdaheratik »

As far as equipment goes, I heart my MBP, but anything with an SSD drive that runs some flavor of Unix/Linux is what you need for most development. Adjust what you buy according to your budget, but unless you're wanting to do 3D graphics, the SSD is a much bigger usability factor than the processor in most laptops.

The learning curve for web related tech is much gentler than iOS or other compiled programming in that you can produce usable projects more incrementally and learn more about how stuff works as you go along. Just pick up an oreilly or other tech book on the framework you want to learn and it'll walk you through. You don't need a CS degree to learn how most of it works and it doesn't take long hours. It just takes patience and being willing to Google/man -k the things you don't know. And there will be alot you don't know.

Django is very friendly on the learning curve side, but deployment can be tough. I don't know about Ruby on Rails as I haven't touched it. PHP has a low learning curve, but also a large community of less capable users which can give it a bad rep.

Re: Ask HN: What laptop should I buy for programming and path to take?

#17

Post by nikdaheratik »

joshfenmore wrote: post #14
bindley wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am actually working for a startup who is prepping an app for investors approval, and what we have found is speed, and progress is important. I would definitely recommend RoR because the speed to development is so critical. With Rails it isn't unrealistic to have a MVP within 3 months. Especially with 10-15 hours a day. And you can get a macbook air for around $900-$1300. That's all you really need, nothing fancy. A…

I've seen some online courses like CS50 with C and MIT with Python. The question is why are they starting with those programming languages and not going straight to high level languages? That is one of my main worries actually. I want to have a solid foundation and principles of how I should build something. Or is my thinking flawed?

The goals of those courses are different from the goals of building complex software. Courses are designed to teach you how a language works in both theory and practice and they generally go through a language and help you understand what parts of it do and why it does what it does.

Nearly all modern languages have developed as some response to C, and Python is also studied because it has a good reputation as a first language.

Software development is about coordinating work so that it produces a product that is reliable and also on time and under budget. This is the sort of thing you can learn, somewhat, by examining the code and work done in open source, but mostly you learn it by working in a (good) software development office. It's important, but not something that is easy to teach while you are also learning how computer languages work.

Re: Ask HN: What laptop should I buy for programming and path to take?

#18

Post by nikdaheratik »

larrybolt wrote: post #7
lukeck wrote: post #4

1. It depends what platform you want to target with your MVP, and whether you have any coding experience. Generally, web technologies have a somewhat gentler learning curve than iOS/Android, and can still reach mobiles. If you're starting from scratch, learn HTML and CSS and make some simple static pages. Then once you're comfortable, learn a high level language (eg. Ruby or Python). Then learn a web framework for th…

> Generally, web technologies have a somewhat gentler learning curve than iOS/Android I have not enough experience with iOS/Android development to know, but I wonder if it isn't somewhat more easier to learn iOS for instance since it's just one language and IDE you have to focus on, while for web-dev you need to learn multiple languages. (Though at a certain point you'll need a server-side language to give your app t…

iOS (and I'd assume Android as well) is a grab bag of technology. To learn it correctly, you'd need to learn about memory management, enough graphics to understand how to draw to the screen, interpret touches, etc. All of that is wrapped up in a complex API.

Web development has many layers to it, but each layer is pretty straightforward and it all starts and ends with producing a text string (the web page) which is a much easier concept to get your head around when you're first learning.

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