TheRealmccoy's goal is commendable.
Many economies do not have favorably
balanced trade with the big nations, so an
effective way to learn on mobile will help
many persons.
But in a crisis where bombs and bullets
are flying around, will studying be really
important to survival? Will edX be of any
help to someone who likely does not have
internet access (I'd rather spend on
essential goods than pay an ISP that
doesn't care about me)?
His solution, if he finds one, will be of
benefit to the captive economies of the
third world, except the crisis-torn
economies.
Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?
61–70 of 75 posts
Re: Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?
#62TheRealmccoy's goal is commendable. Many economies do not have favorably balanced trade with the big nations, so an effective way to learn on mobile will help many persons. But in a crisis where bombs and bullets are flying around, will studying be really important to survival? Will edX be of any help to someone who likely does not have internet access (I'd rather spend on essential goods than pay an ISP that doesn't…
specially in crisis torn places, one finds only gloom and sadness; the future looks dark and bleak, if a pedagogical approach is found where kids and youngsters can learn on mobile itself, something like Programming, which could help them in a better future, that could help many.
Unfortunates those who are forced to migrate, may be can learn enough to start a new beginning.
Re: Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?
#63Mobile environment, IMO, is hyper focused towards the software content consumer rather than software content creators. While what you say is certainly possible to an extent, a person attempting this will be much more hobbled than someone with a cheap laptop, access to constant electricity and an internet connection. This situation can be remedied if the dev environment owning companies in question - Google, Apple and Microsoft - make a substantial attempt to make the mobile environment conducive for software development.
But I honestly don't know why they would do this because the incentives aren't extremely strong here. The vast majority of developer population across the world already has access to the tools mentioned earlier. If you are talking about the populations of the developing world who don't have access, then the companies in question would rightly ask what is the incentive for the effort required to target these populations when it's unclear how many of them would want to participate in this sort of activity.
That said I'd love to see mobile devices with environments as configurable as desktop linux, while giving you full control over the hardware, including even the radio reciever (if not the transmitter).
Re: Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?
#64Mobile environment, IMO, is hyper focused towards the software content consumer rather than software content creators. While what you say is certainly possible to an extent, a person attempting this will be much more hobbled than someone with a cheap laptop, access to constant electricity and an internet connection. This situation can be remedied if the dev environment owning companies in question - Google, Apple and…
indeed,this experiment is to find out that, whether a mobile could be used for creating value also like programming skills resulting into direct or indirect employment.
certainly no incentive for biggies here because time spent creation in mobile means, time not spent consuming which is ulterior to their motive.
Re: Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?
#65I used Termius app + DigitalOcean droplet with some success. It's not fun but it will get the job done if you know vim or some other command line text editor well.
Re: Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?
#66I used Termius app + DigitalOcean droplet with some success. It's not fun but it will get the job done if you know vim or some other command line text editor well.
I would try termius but I believe I have the entire Linux setup now on mobile. I am using Vim.
Re: Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
this is an experiment to see how conducive mobile is for learning.also hundred if millions of people around the world have a Smartphone as their only computer. is it possible for them to learn programming and make themselves better due to it?
That's a relief. I was really hoping the reason wasn't cost due to some unfortunate circumstance. :) For what it's worth, there's quite a few apps that teach programming or serve as reference. Some of them can run live code inline.
I am currently into voluntary poverty but that does not mean I could get a cheap laptop. I am currently far from my home, where I have a Ubuntu desktop as well as laptop.
Re: Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?
#68TheRealmccoy's goal is commendable. Many economies do not have favorably balanced trade with the big nations, so an effective way to learn on mobile will help many persons. But in a crisis where bombs and bullets are flying around, will studying be really important to survival? Will edX be of any help to someone who likely does not have internet access (I'd rather spend on essential goods than pay an ISP that doesn't…
specially in crisis torn places, one finds only gloom and sadness; the future looks dark and bleak, if a pedagogical approach is found where kids and youngsters can learn on mobile itself, something like Programming, which could help them in a better future, that could help many. Unfortunates those who are forced to migrate, may be can learn enough to start a new beginning.
I sincerely hope you find something that works. It is a good pursuit. Will it be limited to learning programming only? There are many other skills that will be needed after such crises. One such skill is creative writing to bring the arts back to life (other arts are needed too). Another is story telling, because the story of the events will need to be told, preferably by those who were in the midst of it, not those who wish to write the victims' history (like the colonialists did to Africa).
Re: Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?
#69Use termux (termux.com) and then you can apt install many useful things ( https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/tree/master/packag... ) You'll definitely want a keyboard
Thanks ! not using keyboard is intentional and deliberate.
Be sure to use tmux. The tmux package in termux allows you to resize panes and switch windows by tapping instead of using the usual key combinations.
Re: Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?
#70Can you play tennis with chopsticks? Sure but it will be terrible. Your phone is a terrible way to program...you will type 20x slower and see 10x less than a real screen. And you won't be able to quickly switch tabs, search Google, etc. Just get a cheap laptop.
One can however quickly switch between a browser and terminal/chroot app though. So googling can be done.