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How I Learned to Program

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Re: How I Learned to Program

#71

Post by zecho »

stepeight wrote: post #52
ImprovedSilence wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't start to really understand how things all work and go together until I installed Linux on my desktop, and started exploring that world. I don't disagree with using OSX, in fact I use a Mac to do all my work now. But I never got started or interested or developed an understanding until I started using linux. Linux almost forces you to learn the underworkings of your system, computing in general, and loves to…

"I think in this case you could consider Linux to be the acoustic guitar, and Mac to be an electric." Does this make Windows the double-necked bass?

Keytar.

Re: How I Learned to Program

#72

Post by rbanffy »

I started with - don't laugh - a TI-55 calculator. It had no conditional jumps (that would be the TI-57) or jumps other than to step 0. It also had, IIRC, 32 steps. I managed to program it to solve second-degree equations.

Then I moved on, briefly, to a Sinclair ZX-81 clone and then stayed with an Apple II until the late-80s. I rented an MSX from the phone company as a videotext terminal. It was a steal at about US$ 7/month.

Re: How I Learned to Program

#73

Post by rbanffy »

cletus wrote: post #27

The one point I really disagree on is Linux. Sure learning Linux will most likely teach you something about the platform on which anything you write will probably be deployed but that's really marginal (IMHO). You get things done (programming included) by getting all the roadblocks out of your way. Linux is (IMHO) a roadblock. The OP claims it teaches you researching skills by giving you problems everyday you need to…

I think Linux is a much richer development environment than OSX and much easier to manage through package managers like apt or yum. Sorry, but nothing on OSX comes close. Plus, you get an insanely rich collection of interpreters, compilers and assorted tools and it runs on just about any computer you already have.

Cygwin can make life under Windows bearable, but there is a long list of confusing things people have to deal with such as the /cygdrive tree and executables always having the .exe extension. "ls" autocompleting to "ls.exe"?

Re: How I Learned to Program

#74

Post by kragen »

kragen wrote: post #65
0x09 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's responding to your first comment I want to see the source to the ls command? ... I have no idea how to do that on MacOS. The rest have been addressed, but as for this: The equivalent on MacOS involves signing up for a developer account with Apple, signing a contract that promises God knows what, and downloading a multi-gigabyte disk image. It involves running an installer from your install disc, or, admittedly,…

So the answer to "How do I find the source to the ls command?" is "click around a web site perusing long lists of packages, trying one after another in an effort to figure out which one the ls command is from, then manually download nine files one by one from http://opensource.apple.com/source/file_cmds/file_cmds-212/l... ? Is that a fucking joke? If that's your idea of fun, go ahead, but I have a computer to do that…

(On further examination, a few clicks on the Back button get me to a place where there's an image that links to a tarball of file_cmds!)

Re: How I Learned to Program

#75

Post by AbyCodes »

samaraga wrote: post #14

The author speaks of writing some small scripts. I write some small scripts for my use for small tasks, if I come across any problem. Just in case, does anyone know a place(website,book etc.) where such small task scripts are collated so that anyone can use them like small assignments? Advanced Bash Scripting Guide by Mendel Cooper( http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/ ) has some good scripts which I have come across for so…

http://bashcookbook.com/

Re: How I Learned to Program

#76

Post by wazoox »

recursive wrote: post #57
wazoox wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course, but from my experience opening a CLI is completely unnatural to Windows users, much more than even Mac users.

And most Windows aren't developers. The fact that linux has a CLI isn't a particularly compelling reason not to use Windows though, since Windows also does.

It's a cultural difference and nothing more. On Linux, opening a CLI is something natural and common, something that every user does at times. Hence writing a quick CLI script seems more natural than on windows.

Re: How I Learned to Program

#77

Post by samaraga »

AbyCodes wrote: post #75
samaraga wrote: post #14

The author speaks of writing some small scripts. I write some small scripts for my use for small tasks, if I come across any problem. Just in case, does anyone know a place(website,book etc.) where such small task scripts are collated so that anyone can use them like small assignments? Advanced Bash Scripting Guide by Mendel Cooper( http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/ ) has some good scripts which I have come across for so…

http://bashcookbook.com/

Thanks for the suggestion. Another O'Reilly book to read!!

Re: How I Learned to Program

#78

Post by ranit8 »

PeterWhittaker wrote: post #30
pooriaazimi wrote: post #5

Completely off-topic: Shouldn't the title be 'How I Learnt to Program'? It's a serious question (I don't live in an English-speaking country and my English is not great).

You may be interested in http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071010132314.ht... tl;dr - infrequently-used irregular verbs get "regularized", frequently-used irregular verbs, e.g., "be", "think", will likely stay irregular forever. (I remember reading about changes to the English language that happened to be underway about the time the printing press arrived, and how the press "froze" that process, leaving us…

Would that be a sign Americans have been reducing usage of the learn verb? I guess that correlates with the amount of posts here about the problems of American education.
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