[ale] I've decided again to learn programming again

[Scott Castaline]

On 10/14/2011 10:59 AM, Byron Jeff wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 06:42:11AM -0400, Ron Frazier wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> Those of you that have read some of my prior posts know I've been
>> threatening for some time to relearn programming after 16 years out of
>> the loop.  I discussed it here before, and we had discussions about the
>> various merits, or unmerits of different languages.  I really was
>> planning to learn C++, after you guys convinced me to not target C#.  I
>> have, sitting next to me, some of the best C++ textbooks out there,
>> including one by the inventor of C++.  The problem is, no disrespect to
>> the authors, that these things are BORING, and intimidating.  I mean, I
>> have to go through 400 pages of for next loops, if then's, and variable
>> setting, etc. to even get to putting a GUI hello world program on the
>> screen.  And, that's IF they even discuss GUI programming.  Now, I know
>> you have to learn the basics, and I know these things are foundational,
>> but I think this is the least enticing way to teach it.
> The real problem is that there is a functional disconnect between
> foundational programming concepts and GUI programming. GUIs are event
> driven creatures that rarely have a linear flow. We run into this problem
> all the time teaching introductory programming and invariably end up right
> back at linear console programming to teach basic concepts. It's difficult
> to branch out to non-linear event driven programming without a clear
> understanding of basic programming concents.
That was my problem in the late 80's early 90's ( I maybe off a couple 
of years), I was making an attempt to "relearn programming". Prior to 
that I had done school projects in the mid to late 70's Cobol, and 
Assembler (6800, Harris, and there was another machine in there 
somewhere). My attempts to relearn hit a major roadblock when I tried 
"Event Driven Code", to me it was another term for Spaghetti Code. My 
gray matter turned into something worse than Spaghetti Junction and I 
gave up.
>>   Not only that,
>> programming desktop computers doesn't excite me nearly as much now as it
>> did a decade and a half ago when it was relatively new.  Embedded
>> programming interests me to a point, and I could do that in C++
>> sometimes, but I don't necessarily want to be programming thermostats
>> and microwave ovens either.  Robotics interests me, but it can be very
>> difficult and expensive to develop your own robotics lab.
>>
>> The other thing that interests me that I might be able to start
>> development for on my own, is mobile computing, specifically Android.  I
>> recently heard that Android is the most popular smart phone OS on the
>> planet.  And, it's pretty much the only game in town for non IOS
>> tablets.  The thing is, you program Android in Java.  So, I have to
>> choose between Java and C++ since I cannot really learn two languages at
>> once.  So, I've decided to jump over to Java, before investing lots of
>> time in C++, which I may come back to later.  By the way, my
>> introductory Java and Android books are just as boring as the C++ books,
>> but I guess I'll muddle through.
>>
>> So, having said all that, do you guys have any thoughts on setting up a
>> cross platform Java development environment, learning Java, learning
>> Android, etc.  I'm thinking using the Sun / Oracle JDK on both Windows
>> and Linux, plus the Eclipse IDE, and whatever device emulators the
>> Android books recommend.  When I can, I'll get an Android tablet to try
>> things out on.  I have two good books on Android 2 from Apress.  They've
>> now come out with similar books on Android 3.  All of them say to learn
>> Java first though.  I think there will be a lot of Android 2 out there
>> for a while, so it might be fine to start with the books I have.  Any
>> thoughts and advice are appreciated.
>>
>> Maybe, someday 8-( I'll see a GUI hello world that I created on a tablet
>> device.  The very large learning curve for this is intimidating and
>> frustrating.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Ron
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
>> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
>> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new messages very quickly.)
> I have to run. I'll come back to the rest of this thread a bit later.
>
> BAJ
>
>> Ron Frazier
>>
>> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
>> linuxdude AT c3energy.com
>>
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