TheJoey.Net

Over at LifeHacker, they are hosting a spirited discussion on what the programming language to learn first is. I think this is a pretty interesting discussion to have and want to comment on what the others are saying, as well as justify my stance. First of all, I did weigh in, saying:

I’d say if you’re not going to be a serious applications programmer, learn some weak-typed language like PHP or Javascript first to get your feet wet with program logic without having to worry about whether your types (the difference between say a number and a word) are correct. This will help you with the control structures(if statements, loops), how the logic works and how to solve some basic problems. Then you can move on to a more advanced language and learn the different types, objects, etc.

Many of the others who commented said that Javascript is not a programming language, it’s a scripting language. Is there a huge difference? Maybe, but not to someone first learning. They will not be doing things a programming language calls for- they will be learning control structures and how a program works, what kind of logic goes into writing a program, etc. To be honest, I first learned Java when I was a freshman in college, but I didn’t really understand programming until I picked up PHP over winter break of that academic year. So is there a difference? Sure. Is it a huge deal to someone starting out? Not at all.

Then we’ve got those who say, “Learn C first, it’s the best” or someone even said, “Learn Assembly.” I know how to program and Assembly is hard. You’re not writing code in something that looks remotely like English and you need an understand of how data is represented on a machine. It sort-of applies for C too, as C is a low level language. Don’t get me wrong, C is the best language I’ve coded in- it’s fast and you can do really powerful stuff. But I think pointers alone is enough to turn someone off to C and programming in general.

Finally, we’ve got those who say learning an Object Oriented (OO) language is the way to go. I can see that. I feel there is enough abstraction there that the learner might be ok. They shouldn’t dive right into object, however, because objects are pretty difficult to visualize if you’re just starting out.

I still say my approach is at least a good one. Learning a simpler language that doesn’t put restrictions on data types will allow the learner to focus on program logic more than data representation. They will begin how to think like a programmer and can move up from there. PHP isn’t a bad place to start because it acts like a simple language (weak typed, syntax is pretty easy to understand), but you can do some powerful things like create objects.

Teaching yourself to program is a pretty daunting task to begin with. However, if you pick up a good book and start with a simple language, you should be fine.

PS- HTML is not a programming language. It’s a Markup Language. You will not learn anything about programming.

posted on April 4th, 2008 in Code, Thoughts| No Comments »

Email correspondence is my normal and most practiced form of communication because of the convenience for both parties. It allows you to quickly send a message to someone and know (in most cases) they will get it the next time they check their inbox. I feel it’s also better than instant messaging or phone conversations in some instances because it allows me to think about what I want to say. However, with the amount of emailing I do, I notice many people don’t know how to write what I deem a proper email.

Since I am a TA, I get a lot of emails from students like this:

Hey do u take off for late assignments

This is sometimes forgivable as it’s mostly freshmen who are relatively new to email as the defacto form of communication. I am sure when I was a freshman my emails weren’t up to my own current standards. However, even dealing with clients I get some of those emails that come off as less than professional. Using SMS shorthand or incorrect punctuation, spelling errors, etc. are some of the problems I run into. Here is an example of what I would say is a proper email:

Joe,
I hope all is well. I was wondering if you took off for late assignments.

Thanks,
Jim Student

The later email includes some important details the sooner email lacked. Here are some ground rules for a good email:

• Address/Greet the person you are writing. It looks better and it ensure you know who are you contacting. The greeting might not be necessary, but it shows you care at least a little.
• Use proper grammar. This isn’t instant messenger and your emails will be read more carefully. You don’t want to be judged on simple grammatical errors. Also, use real words- not shorthand. “U” instead of “you” might be ok for texting or IMing, but it’s not for email.
• Spell check! I’ve been guilty of this from time to time, but now that most browsers have spell check built in, there is really no excuse. This goes along the same lines as grammar checking- and this is much easier to avoid.
• Sign your name. Let the person you are contacting know who is emailing him. Usually for the first email I will also include my last name, and then drop it in any replies. This one drives me crazy because, especially with my students, I deal with a lot of people and don’t always recognize the email address.

These four simple checks will make for an infinitely better, more professional looking email which in turn reflects better on you. Did I leave anything out? Disagree with me? Let me know in the comments.

posted on March 26th, 2008 in Business, Thoughts| | show comments » « hide comments

If you are anything like me, you are always connected to the Internet in some fashion. I have 2 laptops, a desktop, a blackberry and most recently, an iPod Touch (more on that later). Because of this, I get my email right when it’s sent to me unless I’m asleep or without my phone(which is veryrare). I am always tempted to respond right away, just as I do with text or instant messaging. It’s all instant for me. However, I realized it might not be best to respond to an email (specifically a client email) right away.

I know some might think the sooner the better, however immediate response can have some negative effects. First, it’s important to know that most people are not like me- they aren’t always connected. They check their email at most hourly. So it’s a safe bet that they won’t be checking their email for your response right when they email you. Unless of course, you set a precedent.

If you do respond right away, people will expect you to all the time. With my clients for example, if I consistently respond immediately, they will expect it. If you make it seem like you’re always available, people think you are, and that can really eat into any free time you try to set aside. I had a client who called me at all hours because I made it seem like I was always available. I had to explain to her that calling me at, for example, 1AM was unacceptable. But I was always there for immediate response. Besides that, it’s always helpful to put some thought into what you’re going to write back.

Immediate response doesn’t allow you to think about what you write- it’s just what first comes to mind. For a quick note to a friend or a thank you email that might be fine, but in a professional relationship it looks bad. At the very least take some time to think about what you want to say and word it correctly. That extra time from when they email you and then hear back will show them you actually put some thought into what you want to say.

As for me, I should heed my own advice. I have been trying the last few weeks and have already seen a difference as far as what’s expected of me goes. Now let’s see if I can maybe check me email less often…

posted on March 20th, 2008 in Business, Thoughts| No Comments »

I’ve had a number of random thoughts this morning. So instead of flooding Twitter, I thought I’d just post them here.

• iTunes smart lists are really cool
• Color-Schemeing (new term) is pretty hard for me. Luckily there is this website.
• Mac’s way to print a selection is excellent, very intuitive, and user friendly.
• I still can’t get over how awesome app navigation on a Mac is.
• Coffee is the greatest thing on earth next to water.

posted on February 9th, 2008 in Thoughts| No Comments »

About 10 days in and I am enjoying my Mac experience more and more. I don’t know if it was just the hardware, but going onto my brother’s Windows machine I realized how slow everything really is. In defense of Windows though, the computer is a Dell.

The past 10 days using this computer has been pretty great and I’ve got to say I am mostly happy. Besides the things I pointed out last week, I am finding the whole experience of using a Mac aides productivity. For instance seldom do I every have to wait for a program to boot up. And I can run way more at once than I could on my PC. Again, I do have better hardware on this. On the same token, it just seems the cohesion of the OS and the hardware on the Mac is so much better. iTunes, while I’m still not a huge fan, is manageable, especially since I was able to download most of the album art. It really adds to the program’s navigation, but I feel the same about any other music program.

My top 3rd party programs: Coda for web development, Things for task management and Microsoft Entourage for life. The Mac equivalent to Outlook is better solely due to the project management feature it offers. This program has already set me up to have a more organized semester for when I teach. I will likely review each of these programs on their own.

Even with all of the praise for this machine, I do have some gripes…

• Syncing with my Blackberry is a pain. I feel this is in part RIM’s fault; they still don’t have support for Entourage 2008, and when I try to sync my Tasks with iCal tasks PocketMac, the syncing program, crashes. If/when RIM solves this problem, I will be a very happy person. Also, RIM is releasing a boatload of updates that I have been wanting for some time, including web management. However, the desktop is only PC compatible. What gives RIM?
• Syncing my Zune. I knew this would be a problem from the get go, but come on Microsoft. Why alienate part of the market by not making your software for Mac. I could use Parallels (I think) to alleviate the problem, but A) I need to get a copy of Windows, and B) I have a feeling it’s not going to be very easy.

If RIM and Microsoft could pony up and support Macs a little better, my life, as far as the switch goes, would be complete. I unfortunately do not see that happening anytime soon. I wonder if this is why so many people use only Apple products- not for superiority in other markets, but lack of support by other companies.

posted on January 25th, 2008 in Software, Tech, Thoughts| No Comments »