Learn C
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Learn C
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Re: Learn C
#2A little off topic, but I think people need to realize that when someone says they're a programmer, all they mean is that they write code.
I know a lot of my friends (especially the ones in tech heavy cultures like Google, Facebook, Palantir, Dropbox) easily forget that when someone says "I'm a software engineer," they mean they write code. It doesn't mean they've gone through the same coursework, can reduce 3-SAT to everyday problems, form intricate algorithms, or have written their own memory allocator.
Keeping this in mind might make conversations go smoother.
Re: Learn C
#3 You'll learn to feel every line of code you write
I started out with .NET and Java. Both had quite high abstraction levels, and not much deep integration with hardware. I took my control statements, conditionals, and high-level object-based programming for granted -- I never WANTED to learn C. I took one look at K&R and was turned off by the insane amount of low-level work you had to do compared to Java or Python, even to write a simple character counter.
I came back to it. I was slow at first, I was confused, but I learned how to write in C. I learned how to control memory myself. I learned how to do my own text handling. I learned how to avoid buffer overflows and segfaults.
In many ways, it's like going from a Mercedes-Benz to a Miata. There's a lot less comfort, and you have to do a lot more of the shifting and oversteer yourself when the Benz used to do it for you, but you really feel yourself driving, and when you step back into the Mercedes, you feel numbed.
It's the same with C.
Re: Learn C
#4This is a fair point, but it brings to mind another point I didn't really understand till the last couple of years. Learning about how compilers work is just as important. Building a small lisp compiler was a life-changing experience for me in terms of going one level deeper, as much as understanding C was. For those who've never written lisp before, the reason I recommend a lisp compiler is that lisp compilers are the simplest to write, and the most expressive in terms of runtime strategy since lisp syntax mirrors a compiler's IR (intermediate representation). I think this is just as important in todays world because languages like Ruby and Javascript are both directly inspired by lisp. We also live in a world where Clojure is seeing a steady rise, for once a Lisp with large potential for significant commercial adoption.
I can highly recommend the book Lisp in Small Pieces, $93 on amazon, and worth every penny. Walking through the building blocks and design decisions of a language changes the way you code. Every language you look at winds up being internally translated into your own IR whether you've written a compiler or not. Understanding the inner workings of a compiler however adds depth.
Re: Learn C
#5A little off topic, but I think people need to realize that when someone says they're a programmer, all they mean is that they write code. I know a lot of my friends (especially the ones in tech heavy cultures like Google, Facebook, Palantir, Dropbox) easily forget that when someone says "I'm a software engineer," they mean they write code. It doesn't mean they've gone through the same coursework, can reduce 3-SAT to…
Re: Learn C
#6I started programming for iOS via the same route, playing around with Objective-C in Xcode, but have since learned C. I have found that an understanding of C proves to be essential if I try to do anything reasonably complex (e.g. https://github.com/conradev/BlockTypeDescription).
I have also found that another area in which newer developers fall short is understanding how Xcode works. Those familiar with interpreted languages do not have to compile their code. While they may understand the concept of 'modules', they don't know the difference between static and dynamic libraries, what 'linking' is, and how the compiler finds header files. Someone not knowledgeable of how this works will come upon innumerable headaches down the road, especially trying to integrate third party libraries.
I would suggest a supplementary post entitled "Learn How Xcode Works, You Cheater"
Re: Learn C
#7How does a musician without any formal CS education and a admitted lack of understanding of some very fundamental software things, such as pointers and memory, land a San Francisco dev job? I thought those jobs were in very high demand
Re: Learn C
#8I started programming for iOS via the same route, playing around with Objective-C in Xcode, but have since learned C. I have found that an understanding of C proves to be essential if I try to do anything reasonably complex (e.g. https://github.com/conradev/BlockTypeDescription ). I have also found that another area in which newer developers fall short is understanding how Xcode works. Those familiar with interpreted…
Might could do that! Actually one of the biggest mysteries to me for a while was how header files worked, how the compiler finds symbols, build dependencies, linking libs, etc. Having to mess around with Makefiles helps you digest those things, but then Xcode treats them in an entirely different way. #include is a complex beast
Re: Learn C
#9We need less code written in C, not more. We already have a problem with a massive, unreliable, insecure ecosystem of legacy C code that is hard to escape; writing more software in C makes that problem worse.
Most software is written to solve high-level problems. Using a high-level language is sensible, time-saving, budget-saving, improves portability, and saves on headaches later. The same rule that applies to COBOL should apply to C: only use it when you have to deal with an existing legacy codebase (and only if rewriting that codebase with a better language is not possible).
Re: Learn C
#10A little off topic, but I think people need to realize that when someone says they're a programmer, all they mean is that they write code. I know a lot of my friends (especially the ones in tech heavy cultures like Google, Facebook, Palantir, Dropbox) easily forget that when someone says "I'm a software engineer," they mean they write code. It doesn't mean they've gone through the same coursework, can reduce 3-SAT to…
> when someone says they're a programmer, all they mean is that they write code.
How is this an inaccurate or misleading statement? If they write code for a living, they're programmers.
> A little off topic
IMO that's an understatement.