jasondrowley

Can I ask a really dumb question? (I myself have only been programming for about 9 months, so take this into account.)

>>Learning Java first will be even more difficult and may cause long-term damage depending on the amount of OOP koolaid he ingests.

What kind of long-term damage are you talking about? Are you saying there's anything wrong with OOP as a paradigm, or something wrong with Java w/r/t OOP? Or am I missing your point entirely?

The funny thing is, I encouraged him to learn Python first, precisely because of its efficiency and flexibility, etc. I pointed him toward "Learning Python", the absolutely massive book from O'Rielly, and Learn Code The Hard Way for Python.

I have no Ruby or Python experience, but my friend claims Java is easier to learn... At least from his perspective.

Basically, I tried to convince him to learn Python before compromising on Ruby. If you could make a convincing case for him to learn Python instead of either Ruby or Java, I'd be much obliged.

Note: I suggested he learn Python or Ruby because I think he's going to end up in the startup scene, where those are the de rigueur languages (alongside the HTML5 family of markup/programming languages).

See, I don't know what he wants to build. He's still figuring that out.

I recommended Ruby because I think he's going to end up working on web apps and the like. I also think he's inclined to get involved with the startup scene, where I know Ruby is very popular (esp. among those shops which aren't going the "pure" HTML5 route of HTML, JS, CSS, etc.)

Thanks.

Thanks for disabusing me of my misconception. However, I'm going to have to do more homework on this before I'm willing to concede that you're right.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that government employees' correspondence with a private company is confidential.

Now, to be fair, most Christians haven't read the Bible.

Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers It's about a "resident humanist" at a research institution who makes an improbable bet with a computer scientist/AI researcher. For people in tech, it's a fantastic read.

I'm going to be on the receiving end of a great deal of vitriol for saying The Bible and the Koran, but sitting down and reading those two books—for the first time in my 21-year existence—was a really interesting experience.

I'm not going to turn this into a personal essay. I realized—after reading both books with a critical eye—that there are a lot of trumped-up claims made about each books' contents that ultimately fail to bear themselves out. But there's a great deal to learn from each, and I say this as a nontheist.

That's marvelous. Good work. And Merry Christmas!

Thanks, joeyh. Shortly after posting this to HN, I did a bit of googling and came across the same wiki. Thanks for replying.

Thanks, wmf. I knew I wanted to use the MIT license, it's just that the whole dual-licence thing threw me for a loop. I guess in this regard I'm a noob no longer. Thanks again for the help.

I really like this advice. Even if you're not doing super-duper, crazy creative "disruptive" things all the time, one can get a huge sense of satisfaction by approaching some platonic ideal of pancakes, or whatever. Even if your code (or copywriting, design, or whatever it is you do) isn't groundbreaking, you can still strive for the ideal form of whatever it is you're working on.

I heard a really good piece of advice, in the form of metaphor: If you install carpet for a living, you don't have to like the carpet you're installing, but you should be damned proud of how well you laid it down.

For what it's worth, I think something like Startups Anonymous is a fantastic idea.

I apologize for being somewhat flippant with the wording of point #1.

It's late in Chicago, where I'm writing from, and I have to hit the hay, as it were.

I'll rephrase/explain tomorrow.

Simple:

1) Some people like following rules, not making them. 2) Financial stability and job security.

My personal observation: I think the set of people who like working in large corporate structures overlaps significantly with the set of people who really enjoyed the structure and orderliness of school.

For what it's worth, I too am a mathematically-challenged person, except I'm in the beginning stages of learning to program. Predictably, it's an uphill battle.

You said MIT is your dream: presumably you want to go there for computer science. I'm a student at UChicago, minoring in computer science. Depending on which school you go to/end up at, you'll realize that there are a number of different approaches to teaching CS.

UChicago's CS program is basically an applied mathematics major with some theoretical content thrown in in kind of an ad hoc manner. Let me tell you, it's not the best place to go if you want to learn how to build things, nor how things are built. It's really good for math geeks. (I use the term "geek" affectionately here.)

My advice should be taken with a grain of salt, but you might consider CS degree programs which focus more on software engineering and practical applications of computer science, than on comp. sci. itself. But again, the scope, requirements and course offerings of computer science programs vary greatly between institutions.

Good luck with MIT!

I don't know what your pricing model will be, but might I suggest a way for users to create a one-off online store.

I have a lot of books I'd want to sell to my friends/networks, because they'll pay me more than Amazon or EBay. While a monthly subscription wouldn't be feasible for a user like me, I'd gladly fork over $10-20 to set up a one-time-use online store.

I really, really like it. Excellent work.

I second arkitaip.

While this is not the case with all the books they summarize, most of them are out of copyright. As for the new(er) books on the site, I don't know.

Out of interest, what prompts the question?

Who holds the patent, and/or what's the patent number?

We're developing one, but it won't be available for a little while.

EasyTestMaker (http://www.easytestmaker.com/default.aspx) is an option, though their UI feels a little old fashioned.

The quiz maker from ProProfs (http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/) is also pretty good.

If all these fail to meet your specs, you could always create a form in Google Docs.

I just went to the Apple Germany website. It's not there.

And, the image quality is a bit shoddy in the video, though this could just be because the site is a mockup... assuming of course that this is real.

Find a small problem, and build a simple, elegant solution.

FYI, web apps don't make all that much money (convincing users to upgrade to a paid version is surprisingly difficult). Your best bet is to develop a mac or ios app and sell it on the app store.

If you don't know any Obj-C, you could consider developing an app in the language of your choice and running it on Titanium (an awesome IDE from Appcelerator).

I'm also quasi-dropped out of college; I'm the "business side" of a startup; so, as for learning to code, I'm just as much a neophyte as you are.

Good luck, man.

G&T

I back up my computer over wireless (I share a huge networked drive with my family), but whenever I'm browsing or uploading code, I feel more comfortable (for some inexplicable reason) being wired-in.

And yes, I do on occasion unplug. And it feels good.

Thanks, Joe.

I'm making my way through another HN user's recommendation, Code. I've heard good things about The Mythical Man Month (especially from my more technical startup-involved friends), so I think that might be next on my list. As for SICP, I'm a tad intimidated, but it seems approachable enough.

Regarding the other suggestions, they too will be read. Thank you for these.

Thanks.

Thanks. I've seen Code at my local B&N (and of course, on Amazon), and I've come close to buying it.

I'm getting it tomorrow.

I think that you have to ask yourself whether the deeper and more profound conversation is endemic to the bot or an artifact of my willingness to delve into difficult subjects with it and my willingness to attribute profundity to my "conversation" with the bot.

For the sake of transparency, the majority of the conversation with the bot was rubbish, but I managed to get some good bits from it-not all of which I included in the article.