Monday, June 16, 2014

Objective C and Other Distractions



So I've been working with Objective C since last week...and this is starting to get a little bit frustrating. Python was supposed to be my thing on the side and now I've picked up something else...and loving it.  I have found, and still find, Objective C to be a little cumbersome, but I'm also starting to like it. I  also feel like it's helping my overall growth as a programmer, but it's making me question learning languages like python and ruby, because you don't want to deal with languages like Objective C, afterwards.

I'm also being tempted by other things...like Java and JavaScript...and getting better with HTML and CSS.
Going to all of these hackathons and talking to other coders is  piquing  my interest in other things and just really getting me excited about coding. Coming in, I didn't really know about the limitations of languages as far as what they could be used for. My biggest surprises/challenges were:






      • not being able to use any language to make mobile apps
      • having to have an MAC to make apps for iPhone and iPad
      • having to learn Objective C to make apps for iPhone and iPad
      • having to learn Java to make apps for Android
      • not being able to compile ruby and python into executable files


To be fair, I read/was told/heard that the best way to go about programming is to decide what you want to make, and then learn the things that allow you to do that. However, no one tells you the above. I think that a major problem with learning to program is that the people who really know how to code don't really think or rememeber what it was like in the beginning. When I started learning, I was fascinated by programming, in general, and I wanted to make things...all kinds of things. For me, it would have been much better if I could have just used python or ruby to do whatever. Something that I also heard, in the beginning that maybe threw me off a little was that you can use any language to approach a problem, which is true, but misleading [see above]. 

But to get back to my original point, I have being hearing a lot of great stuff about JavaScript, like Angular.js and Node.js, and I'm really interested in learning more about it. At the same time, I want to learn about Java to make Android apps, and C/C++ so that I can make executable programs and because I also heard that execution was much faster than programs written in Ruby and Python...and this is just the beginning. My world is just opening up to this stuff. 

The frustrating part is that there is still so much that I still want/need to do and learn in Ruby, and like I said, I've just kind of been treating Python like a side project. I keep catching my self contemplating trying other languages [like the other day when I almost started that Angular.js tutorial]. 

I want to make an app or two using Ruby, and at the same time, I want to do some engineering things using Raspberry Pi. Oh well, I guess I need to just get back to it...

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