Learning Java...

I now know what they meant when they were saying that Ruby and Python are languages that are designed for the programmer vs. the computer, and how they make programming fun. Initially, I thought "how can programming not be fun?" However, after studying Objective-C and Java, I'm pretty clear on what they were talking about.

Java, from my understanding, so far, is a "lean" language, so you have to import "modules" that are already packed into Python and Ruby. In Java, you  have to write "import java.util.Scanner" to allow the user to input information, whereas you can just create a variable to accept the input in Ruby and Python. There are other little things like declaring types for variables and only being able to use one type of object in arrays, that make programming in Java...different.

The cool thing about declaring a type of variable, though, is that you decide what kind of variable you want to use ahead of time and you don't actually have to write your number in a decimal form, if they don't have numbers following the decimal. This is good for programming because you are thinking through the type of result that you want, which avoids using integers, when you want a float and having to go back and put in the decimals if you forget.

Another built in feature in Ruby and Python is the error messages. Although, you can resolve that situation by using an IDE, it comes built in to the other languages and coding in Java requires you to *sigh* download a IDE like NetBeans, free of charge and install it on your computer, when you're first getting set up.

Things that you can do using Java that you can't use Ruby and Python for? Compiling programs into .exe and other files that you can run as stand alone software (I think you may be able to do this on python, with some extra effort...Cython?) and building native mobile apps for android, which is huge. I think that with the popularity of mobile devices, not being able to use a language to build native applications for them is a pretty big disadvantage...if you like making stuff for other people to use. Even though there are plenty of things you can still build for people who are sitting in front of computers or for things that use Raspberry Pis or Arduinos. For me, the most exciting thing right now, as far as development is concerned, is making things that can be used no matter where they are on many different kinds of devices. I really hope that something can be done about this...and soon [ yes, I know about Ruby Motion :) ].

Challenges with learning2Java that aren't about the language itself:

1. The writers of the books. I'm not literary expert or anything, but the way that they write/speak is hard to follow. The way they say things is not fun, at all. I don't know if it's just me or what, but I had such a hard time reading the books that I decided to watch youtube videos first so that I could get a general understanding of what's going on. It's not like I don't like to read or I just picked books at random, either. I did an internet search to try to find the best books to learn with, but yeah...
2. Leaving this hanging: public static void main(String []args). Yeah, you really can't do that. It's not cool to tell me that you're going to explain something later, and then wait to talk about it at the end of the book. Sorry. I NEED to know. [ note to self: why haven't you googled this, yet? ]  How about walking me through it and then going into more detail later. I understand that "public" means that it will be available to other code, they explained that "main" means that this is the operating class that the compiler will look for, and from studying Objective-C, I think that "void" means that a function will not return anything, but I have no idea what that means for a class or if this is even the same thing in Java, and "static"? I need all of this explained and I need to be clear that I'm thinking in the right direction on this. That "String []args" part also needs to be explained, especially since I keep seeing those square brackets moved to different places in different code. How am I supposed to concentrate on what you're trying to teach me if this keeps coming up unexplained?

This probably sounds like a lot of complaining, but it's just my growing pains. I'm definitely going to take advantage of all opportunities to learn new things. [ ...especially Java, since it's the dominant mobile platform and I definitely want to develop for it...even though I have an iPhone ;) ]. I'm just getting started with Java and Objective-C, so if I start saying things, in the future, like "I don't see what people's problem with Java is" or "actually, Objective-C is pretty cool, I'm glad I learned it before I started Swift" don't be surprised. :)

I think that I'm going to go study a little Ruby now. 

...because Ruby.

Fun with Ruby...and a Little Bit of Python

I'm still building stuff in Ruby. I think the more that I learn, the more interested I am in programming. I'm making progress on the STE(A)M Truck app and now I also have other people to help me, since I presented it at Code for Atlanta on Tuesday night. I'm the only back-end developer, which works well for me, because once I get it finished, hopefully by this weekend, I can learn from the UX and front-end developers.

The only issue that I'm running into on the STE(A)M Truck app is that my latest commits didn't get added to the heroku app. For some reason, the branch that I created for that session of coding also disappeared, also. I tried a couple of things, like re-pushing it to both github and heroku, but nothing worked, so I'm just hoping that when I push the latest commits the problem will resolve itself.

I started looking at django tutorials, as well, this week. Right now, and I have only just barely gotten past the installation instructions; I am the opposite of impressed. Hopefully, that will change, but I definitely want to learn it, or at least get a decent amount of experience with it, just in case I need to use it for...developing stuff.

This is a funny video from How to Basic 

on youtube.com

On the career front, I applied for a fellowship with Code for America and I completed step 2 of the process on Monday. I'm really hoping to get this so that I can move to San Francisco for a year to just work on coding and civic hacking. This would be perfect for me not only because I would love the experience, but if I get the fellowship, when it ends, I will have exactly 2 years of commits on github and the necessary prerequisites for a job in coding and web development. It would also allow me to just work on my coding, by working on personal and freelance projects, and go to the gym until it actually starts in January.  I took this year off from the gym to learn coding and I'm really looking forward to getting back in there in August.

UPDATE: The problem I was having heroku with the app has resolved itself. I did, however manage to break it again and spent a few hours resolving that issue, but it is working.

Programming for Everyone #PR4E

Last weekend, I did Goodie Hack ATL and found another project to work on: STE(A)M Truck. I like this project. My team is coming up with a technology solution to interact with the students, maximize the time at each school, and organize mentors; this is something that I plan to work on over the next few months, at least. We're going to start with a Ruby on Rails web app and an Android mobile app; it should be a pretty neat project to work on.

I really got back into Ruby on Rails, in earnest, this week. I restarted the Michael Hartl's Rails Tutorial, and I'm currently on Chapter 4. I'm finding that I'm able to complete a lot of the sample_app without using the code in the book for anything more than comparison. It's amazing how much more I understand what's going on in this tutorial the second time. I think that my biggest take away from learning to program, so far, is that no matter how enigmatic and mystifying something may seem when you first start, as long as you stick with it and do the work, it will eventually become clear to you. I was confident that I would be able to pick this up, but that doesn't mean that I'm not impressed by the difference in where I was when I started, and where I am now.

Dr. Chuck with one of his sweet tattoos

I also finished my first MOOC this week on Cousera: Programming for Everyone(Python) with Dr. Charles Severance. If you are interested in learning Python, or if you are interested in learning to program and you don't have a language in mind, then I highly recommend this course. The course was better than any of the other Coursera Python courses that I have taken because:

• It was real world programming: there were no virtual environments. You set up Python on your computer and used it like you would in the real world. I have taken other Python courses that were based in controlled environments and didn't like it. In fact, I was taking one when this course started and I un-enrolled and concentrated on this course.

• The assignments were appropriate: the assignments for this course were challenging and helpful without being so hard that they required an inordinate amount of time to finish. I only completed two exercises easily; one of them was the homework for week one.

• Dr. Chuck is awesome: I enjoyed the lectures. He wasn't going over the top attempting to entertain the class, but he kept the videos pretty light and very informative. I also feel like he used the appropriate amount of time covering each topic, I'm not a fan of courses that go too slow and I have dropped courses for that reason. He also wasn't moving through so fast that the average person couldn't keep up [imo]. Another thing that I liked is that Dr. Chuck travels a lot and has office hours with the students in the cities that he visits. Although he didn't visit my city, I enjoyed the suspense of whether he would. If he had come to Atlanta, I definitely would have been there. [He travelled all over the would during this session]

Anyway, I finished the course, did all of the homework, and got 100 on my final. So I'm pretty stoked about the whole experience. The only draw back of the course is that there isn't a part two. If you are interested in taking this class, the next one starts on October 6th. 

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...

Having to type "NS" and "@" is Front of Everything is Not Ok.

This weekend I attended a hackathon at the AT&T Foundry in Atlanta. As always, I learned some new things, got different perspectives on coding, and met some cool people. That was the good stuff, the not-so-good stuff was the way that the event was structured. This was only my third hackathon, but I have gotten used to all of the ideas being pitched and then being able to join that team and work on the idea that I liked the most. This was not that. When we got there, it was basically: find a team and make something, which meant finding someone to work with, agreeing on a problem to be solved, and then agreeing on the solution. I think that putting so much of the burden on the participants made for a much less productive event than it could've been.  Most of the people at the event spent the entire first night trying to find a team and come up with an idea. Personally, my team didn't even have a viable idea until 4 hours before the judging and we ended up not even presenting. 

One of the things that really struck me about this event, was people coming to the event in teams and being really secretive about what they were working on. This wasn't a widespread issue or anytihng, just something that stuck out. In an environment where everything is going to be open-sourced in the end, I think that this attitude in non-productive. I think that people do this for two reasons: a.) they want to split the prize "money" with as few people as possible, and b.) they overestimate their idea and underestimate what new perspectives and talents bring to the project. When people come to hackathons with this mentality, their time is wasted if they don't win a prize, and if they do win a prize they exposed their idea to others on the cheap. They don't learn anything new that they couldn't have gotten form just going to a coffee shop or other work-space and building the project, they open their ideas up to appropriation, and most importantly, they don't meet new people. Sucks to be them.

Anyway, I think that my most positive take away from this weekend was my need to either learn Java or Objective-C so that I can work on mobile apps. While I love Ruby and Python, I also think that being able to convert my applications to mobile apps is going to be important in the future. To that end, I have started learning Objective-C and I'm completely missing the point. I haven't gotten too far into it, yet, but from what I've seen, I can't understand Apple's decision to devote resources to build their own languages for their applications. Ruby and Python seem like way better solutions at this point and I just really don't see the appeal of Objective-C.

 Although, I am enjoying taking some time to look at a new language. I can't really see myself spending a whole lot of time on it, right now, but I'll be really ready to get something out of my study when I decide to. I'm going to start building stuff in Ruby and Python in the immediate future, but soon..

Also, I did manage to get some cool T-shirts from Crittercism this weekend, though. 

Look, Ma! No Hands.

I wrote my first python program for my homework assignment, today, in about 3 minutes flat just going through and typing out how I think it should go. Besides accidentally using .strip(), instead of using .split(), I nailed it on the first attempt; when I looked at the output, I knew exactly what I had done wrong. My python skills pretty much just snuck up on me.

protip: .strip() was from last week's homework.

I've been focusing mostly on ruby and taking this python course and going to these meet-ups. It's funny looking back at how far I've come in my programming since January, but I also still have an amazingly long way to go...

National Day of Civic Hacking [post-event report]

This weekend I participated in the National Day of Civic Hacking at the the Atlanta Community Food Bank. The event started on Friday at 6PM and was catered by Chik-Fil-A. The first night they also had veggie wraps, but for breakfast and lunch, on Saturday, I had to work around the chicken based diet. It turned out to be a little bit too much for one of my vegetarian friends: those delicious chicken nuggets. R.I.P. vegetarian diet. This is the second week in a row that I've had my vegetarianism tested.

I had tossed a few ideas around in my head, but most of them involved being in D.C., so by the time that I got there, I was just really looking for a project to join that would allow me to work on my ruby and/or python skills. When we got there, the food bank already had about nine specific issues that they wanted to have addressed and 3 other people pitched ideas of their own. I ultimately joined a group that was addressing the need of the smaller agencies of the food bank to have a presence online. Best. Decision. Ever.

When I joined my team the first person that I met was Josh, a designer. Josh worked with the Mathew to get the overall design together and he was attending the event with his business partner, Morgan. When I met Josh the first thing I said was "this needs to be a ruby project." Luckily, that was what they worked with, so I was on board with the project at that point. [I had considered working on another project first, but I didn't for reasons that I won't go into.] Morgan was the backend developer for th business that he and Josh were partners in: Polar Notion. Morgan had wayyyyy more experience than I did and I had got an amazing opportunity to learn from him and gawk at how fast he could get stuff done. The other members of my team were Greg, Cashif, Vivianne, Mathew, Ben, and Jeff. Jeff was apparent excellent with mapping technologies, but unfortunately he didn't show up for the second day, so we didn't have a chance to leverage those particular skills.

Once we had the basic idea down, we split up into three groups: designers,

 a think tank, and developers. Morgan, Greg, and I were the development 

end of the operation, with Morgan acting as the team lead.

Morgan easily did over 90% of the coding, and that's probably understating it. seriously. He was getting things done really fast, helping me with my code, and contributing to the overall project at the same time. Morgan, also knew a lot about gems and API's and had lots of great advice. He's one of the coolest people I've ever met and just meeting him alone was an awesome part of my experience. However, my entire group was awesome, as well as the people attending overall.

What we decided to build was something that I called "foogler", even though that name is under dispute, because several people in the group wanted to call it "foogle." The biggest mistake people make in marketing is putting marketing decisions to a vote among non-creatives, imo. I'm pretty sure I was the only one on our team with a background in marketing, but that's the thing about marketing: everyone thinks that they can do it. :)

Anyway, what we made was basically a search engine to be attached to the food bank's website, that allowed smaller agencies to make a "profile"that was searchable by clients using zip codes. Other than my disagreement with the name, I feel like my team worked together extremely well. Everyone did their parts and pretty much everyone involved with the event was impressed with our team performance.

This is "foogler"

When the judging started, I was pretty confident that we were going to win, but then a team that did a SMS based application that allows people looking for food banks to connect with food bank agents through text messaging. This was really good idea, and I think that something like that would be ideal for places like Africa, where people use SMS for many commercial activities, already. I had seen this TED talk, so I immediately understood the impact that something like this could have. My only concern about that project was whether or not it had already been done in Africa by someone else. 

When the judges had finally made a decision the results were as follows:

• Fourth Place: Originally, there were only supposed to be three winning groups, but one team took on the inglorious task of patching up a few bugs in the SQL database system and they were properly rewarded with the "Honorable Mention" award. [I'm so glad that these guys didn't get overlooked. Their work went into effect right then and will have an immediate impact.]

• Third Place: Went to a group that did an Internet of Things project that was pitched by Concrete Jungle that involved placing sensors on fruit trees to determine when the fruit was ready to be picked based on bending of the branches. This would have been a fun project to work on had they had python developers and implemented Raspberry Pi. The reason that I didn't consider this one is because of their lack of coders and my lack of experience. This was definitely an interesting project, but it may have been a little bit much to take on for a project that had less than a 24 hour turnaround.

• Second Place: Rightfully went to the SMS group.

• First Place:  Team Foogler!!!!

front row(from left to right): me, Vivianne, Morgan

back row: Greg, Cashif, Josh, Ben

not pictured: Mathew and Jeff

The whole team got these sweet $50 gift cards:

After everything was said and done, we had an extra card. We're going to use that when we get together on Wednesday for drinks! I can't say enough about my experience and I'm going to stop now, but if you have a chance, you should definitely participate in the National Day of Civic Hacking next year and get involved with Code for America...I had a great time. Learning, using what I've learned to give back, and meeting new people was awesome; winning gift cards was just icing on the cake. 

Advanced Ruby Features

I have decided that buying a mac is going to be unavoidable. I never thought that I would own a mac, but Windows 8, their lack of interest in what's best for the user, and the inability to create apps for iPhones and iPads make owning one a necessity as a developer. Windows 8 even blocks you from running Ubuntu side by side with it and I'm still trying to decided whether or not I want to add this third party software to my system that will allow me to to this. [it's been 2 days] I'm seriously disappointed in Microsoft...shopping for macs online today was so depressing.

Two weeks ago I went to Octane and there was this chick there with a mac 

who sat on facebook for two hours...all of my nope, every bit.

I've been taking it kind of easy on myself this week, I think. That last chapter was a little bit taxing, interesting, but taxing. I had to take my time and take it in pieces so that I could retain as much as possible. The chapter that I just finished in my book was about advanced Ruby topics [whew!].  It took me a few days to get through it, just because I was trying extra hard to take everything in [probably not the best idea ever]. This is probably one of those chapters that I'm going to have to go back and read again...and again.  My favorite topics were probably the ones about Win32API and win32ole. I'm definitely going to have to learn more about that stuff.

Topics that I remain weak on are threads, fibers, and RubyInline, although RubyInline is awesome and I need to learn a lot more about that...and new languages. Being able to use C in ruby for hyperspace in your programs is sweet and I am also very interested in using any and all other languages with RubyInline. I'm extra excited about learning other languages now, even though I probably won't start anything new until 2015. It will probably be my New Year's Resolution. This year's resolution was learning to code[killing it, btw].

In the next chapter, that I've already started ;), I'm going to be making a bot, like Eliza. It's supposed to bring most of the stuff that I've learned in the book, so far, together, and it should be pretty interesting. I'm looking forward to working on it more tonight... after I do a little bit more Hindi. Hopefully, this will be great review for the things that I have already learned and clear up some of the topics that I was fuzzy on going through the book.

I Need A Programming Job

I feel like I'm finally at the point where I can get a job coding in ruby and ruby on rails, learn pretty fast, and be an effective member of a team. I'm on Chapter 11 of my book, Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional, and I took my python midterm yesterday. I'm at the point where the basics are just boring and it's really time to start building stuff. The only problem is that I don't like to leave things unfinished, so I need to finish this book, stat. However, I still don't know everything; I just have gotten the hang of how everything works, so nothing is surprising anymore.

One of the things that I was really excited about was using ruby, and python, with other information like files and the internet. I'm not saying that I'm the master of doing this, yet, but I do understand it. I took my python midterm last night and got a 95. The thing is, I didn't study and I didn't even go there to take the test...I just wanted to look at it. It's not due until Monday, but when I was looking at it, it was easy for me, so I finished it.

The thing that I'm really looking forward to, though, is the National Day of Civic Hacking, this weekend. I can't wait and I'm trying to learn as much as possible before Friday, so I can join a really good group and have a lot to contribute. I had a lot of fun at the last hackathon.

In other news, one of the guys I met at a meet up a few weeks ago is doing the Michael Hartl tutorial and ran into a jam. I have a love/hate relationship with jams. :) I'm going to get to that. I love coding. Peace.

Taking Time Off is Bad Business...

...especially when you're just getting started. I just took a weekend off and it's taking time to get back to a point where I'm actually moving ahead; I'm going to be up all night. I finished a semi-related book called The Talent Code, yesterday. It really gave me a lot of insight into the learning process. Since I've finished this book, I'm all about practicing my skills. I would highly recommend this book for anyone, but especially for anyone who is trying to learn something new.

Beyond that, I've been reading another book called Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional. I'm at the same point in my Ruby, that I always have trouble with: YAML. I just don't get it, and if you type in into irb exactly as it's written in the book, it doesn't work. I get frustrated with a lot of these books for this reason. The authors don't really realize that they're talking to beginners...or this beginner. There are also a lot of typos in the book, this is especially awesome if you're a grammar nazi. That being said, this is the best book that I've read so far about the Ruby language, for beginners. Everything in the book is laid out pretty well, and I definitely feel like this book has contributed greatly to my understanding of the language.

Someone on reddit solved that Project Euler problem that I was working on, but I still don't understand the answer. I want to solve all of the problems on that site, but..

I won't be moving to the next problem until I do(understand), and I can post my own personal solution in the forum. [/srs]

I've also been chugging along with my python skills. My home work for my python class was due on Monday, so that was the first thing that I worked on. On Tuesday night, I entered into another platform for learning python, that is showing promise. I've probably said this before, but once you have a solid start in ruby, if you start learning python, it's a good way to internalize both by your analysis of the differences between the two...and they both have great communities. 

...back to work.

My Cousin's Wedding

I went to Houston this weekend for my cousin's wedding. Yeah...didn't get anything done. I can't wait to get back to work tonight. This is going to be an awesome week. The ruby boot camp starts this week and then there's this. That is all.

Monday Morning Update #2

...strong week.

I've been working on the Ruby on Rails Tutorial and my coursera classes. I have to say, this tutorial is much better than the lynda tutorial. I would definitely recommend never, ever doing that tutorial, for any reason.

Using this tutorial, I have learned how to properly use git and github. I got jammed up for a minute there, I didn't realize that I needed to create the repository at the website before I could push things to it, but luckily the Web Applications Architecture Class on coursera really came through for me this week, in that regard. My github is starting to look respectable. I knew that it was a good idea to take that course along side my independent work with Ruby on Rails. The only issues that I have with this tutorial involves one of the gems: execjs. For some reason, I'm getting and error for this gem on everything that I work on. This is how you fix it:

Run gem install --version '1.2.4' execjs

Add gem 'execjs', '1.2.4' anywhere in your Gemfile.

Run bundle install

Start your server with rails s and your problem should be solved.

Part of the reason that I'm putting this here is for future reference. ;) 

 I wish that I understood exactly what is going wrong with this gem, so that I could fix it and not have to do this with every app, but se la vie, I guess.

Speaking of the Web Applications Architecture Class, it is still kind of annoying me. The assignments are pretty basic and the class moves way to slow for me to use it as a stand alone instructional for ruby on rails...maybe if I worked ahead, though. He is posting the work 2 weeks ahead though. I just really don't like the class enough to spend extra time each week working on that when I have other resources. I wouldn't go as far as to say that you shouldn't take the class, if you're trying to learn, though. To each his own.

The other class,  An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python, is going great! This week, our project was to recreate the game "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock" that was featured on Big Bang Theory. Me being me, I have to watch the first episode of the show; I had been avoiding it, but I'm willing to give anything a chance, especially since, apparently, the professors [there are 5] think that that show is the bees knees [I just said that]. I hate that show. Hate is a strong word. What I did do was go to their facebook page, see which of my "friends" like that show and proceeded to judge them for it [...not out loud or in text, of course :)]. Anyway, the game was pretty simple and not overly challenging. It's nice to have this class a strictly a programming exercise, while studying so my web development.

I'm not married to the idea of making websites. My goal is to build useful for tools and entertainment applications. Don't get me wrong, I love the internet and I definitely look forward to being hands on in the deployment and management of my ideas, but just building websites in itself just doesn't do it for me. The underlying idea behind the website is where it's at.

Oh Snap!

I almost forgot to blog, this week! :)

I've been doing a lot of work with Ruby on Rails, this week. I've gotten a basic understanding of how everything works now, and I'm about half-way through the lynda tutorial. I'm finally at the part where we're actually designing stuff for the website that we're building. It's cool because I'm learning all about servers and databases and how to use them to run websites. I'm getting used to dealing with all of the files and the way things are done and really starting to enjoy it... looking forward to building my own site from scratch...in probably a few more months.

In other news, I'm starting two new classes at Coursera, tomorrow. The first one, is called Web Application Architectures, and it teaches web development using Ruby on Rails. I'm really looking forward to this course, because while the lynda tutorial is getting me there, this class will give me a more current and interactive experience in Rails, and I can ask questions and talk to other students in the class that are at or around the same level, as I am, in web development. I think that this class is going to be good for the learning process that I have going.

The other course that I'm taking is called An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python, which is pretty self explanatory. It's part of a 3 course track that will take me through the Summer and allow me to work on my Python skills while I'm doing my Ruby stuff.

I definitely wouldn't be doing both, right now, if I hadn't already gotten a decent amount of experience with both languages already. But on the plus side, the languages are pretty similar, and even the course syllabus for the first class says that what we learn on RoR is transferable to other platforms like Django for Python.

Two more things, I started reading this book, to get an comprehensive rundown on web design, and because in working in RoR I learned pretty quickly that I need to refresh and expand my HTML and CSS knowledge. Once I get the programming/scripting side down, I'm definitely going to have to take some time to focus on the visual design and user experience aspect of web development, not so much to get a job, but for when I start working on my own projects. I can't wait until I'm comfortable enough with what's on my plate, now, to get into that. This new book is easy to read and I should be finished with it by next weekend.

Another development, last week, was that I got a call about a job programming in Ruby. I did a phone interview that went well; the recruiter told me that he would be forwarding my resume along to the next step in the process. It would be awesome if that turned into a job where I could hone my skills in the near future, but I'll be okay, either way. ;)

It's St. Paddy's Day..

So you know I'm programming [and blogging] under the influence...right? Yeah...HAPPY ST PADDY'S DAY!!!

...probably not.

Anyway...

I was taking a break from Ruby on Rails when I discovered this class, on Friday.  I'm on Chapter 6 of the lynda Rails tutorial, but I decided to stop and review my Ruby skills. [Consequently, I'm pretty sure that I need to get my my CSS skills up, as well]. I've already watched the intro to ruby ones, now I'm on the the second part. I'm looking forward to finishing these and going back to rails this week. I want to get as much done as possible this week, before I start the Coursera Python Class in a week. [Take it with me...maybe?]

The big thing about the Dave Jones classes is not so much the information, as much as it is his comments about programming, in general, while he's teaching the courses. Don't get me wrong though, the classes are good, and it's awesome to have a who class on the things that I'm reading about in books. The original idea was to watch some videos about regular expressions [the section that the pickaxe book was advising to skip through for beginners], but he's dropping some many jewels that I decided that I would go ahead an watch all of his videos on Ruby.

In other news, I'm liking Ruby in Rails more and I can't wait to get back to it. I'm loving the the fact that this is so interesting and that people are getting paid to do it. This feels like getting back to who I was a kid [I used to program on the TI 99 and love it. This is taking me back to that time and I feel like a kid again. I'm doing this from now on...

Watch this awesome video that's in a link because apparently Google is hating on all online video platforms that aren't youtube:

...but

I don't know what else to say, right now, so I'm going to  go ahead and sign off and get back to what I was doing...happy programming.

Peace

...nailed it.

After finally getting everything installed correctly on my computer, I found out that there is bug in the Windows installations that, APPARENTLY, no one wants to fix [wtf, man? seriously???]. I stayed up all night on Monday working on this, only to find out that it wasn't going to happen for me.

After trying to figure this out to the point of being unable to to think clearly, I went to sleep mad. [protip: never go to sleep angry]. The problem was with the database [MySQL] and the gem to link it to Ruby on Rails. I woke up on Tuesday with a mission: get RoR on my computer, stat. After briefly entertaining the idea of changing my server to Apache, I went back to this video that I had been ducking, for obvious reasons if you're new to this.  However after watching his videos, I can confirm that Jonathan MacDonald is legit.

Respect my RoR on Windows 8

After uploading RoR and starting my tutorials, I've been doing the lynda.com tutorials for rails. It's cool, but I don't like it as much just pure Ruby & Python programming. While I'm getting my Rails skills up, I'm continuing to learn about Ruby...and Python. I went back to reading the the pickaxe book and I came up on this video about python, so basically, I'm like a pig in slop [I live in GA, don't judge me]. 

So I'm feeling good, excited. I guess my only issues now are whether I want to work on Ruby or Python. It seems like when I'm working on Ruby, I want to work on Python and when I'm working on Python, I'm thinking about working in Ruby.

I guess the only this left on my mind right now is:

Peace.

So I Took a Week Off...

...and studied Python. lol!

Studying Ruby was starting to wear me down a little bit, so I took the week off and did the Python track on Code Academy. Python and Ruby are pretty similar; I'm not sure which on I like the most, now. What I do know, is that I need to start focusing on studying Ruby on Rails. I watched a video on teaching yourself to code, and apparently, Rails is where it is currently located. So I'm going to go back working on that this week.

I'm starting by going back and doing the lynda.com tutorial on Rails and to  try to get it installed on my computer, again. After that I'm going to do this tutorial that everyone is always talking about. After I finish those two things, I'm think that the next step is  the team treehouse tutorials; they have a 14-day free trial, and by the time I finish all of that, I will have a pretty good handle on Rails, or at least, what I need to do to get a good handle on Rails. [...provided that I can get it working on my computer]

Another thing that I'm considering,  is going to the Iron Yard  code school. I met one of the founders a month or so ago at the iOS meet-up, and then I went to a presentation that he gave on building apps, last Monday at hypepotamus. I really want to go, but it's pretty expensive.

While I'm working on my Rails game, I'm going to make time to continue studying Ruby and Python. I put my books down this week while I was studying Python, but that was mostly because I'm reading a section of the pickaxe book that they recommend that you skip, if you're a beginner, but...

...not in my house. 

Skipping through books just doesn't really sit well with me: I've been re-reading the same section, so I understand what's going on. Studying Python has help me understand Ruby better, though. By thinking about the differences between the two, I get a better handle on both of them.

I think that I'm going to start reading my Python book, now, as well. I like Python, and I'm going to keep studying the language, but I'm going to have to wait until I'm comfortable with Rails before I start picking up Django, so Python is going to be mostly a hobby for me for a little while. Also, they just released a new version on Python, this week, so there's that.

I'm starting to understand what's going on a lot better and I'm really looking forward to building things. So hopefully I'll be able to demonstrate something soon.

In other news, I stopped going on facebook and restarted my Rosetta Stone Hindi and Spanish this week. I'm getting pretty good a my foreign languages. It's also a lot more fun when it's a retreat from studying my programming. I'm doing the voice part, now, too...because pronunciation is key in Hindi and I got caught out there saying an embarrassing thing on accident one time.

WHY IS INSTALLING THE MySQL GEM SO HARD??? [the Struggle is Real]

LOL...seriously, though. I don't think people really use Ruby on Rails and everyone is lying to me. I have been trying to get it to work all day. I actually got it to work once...and then it stopped working, again. I'm hoping that there is someone at hypepotamus that can help me with it tomorrow.

In the mean time, I've started reading another book and went back to learning python, too. It was driving me crazy not working with python for some reason, so I re-started the Code Academy lessons. I got a new book from my cousin, it's called 7 Languages in 7 Weeks; it's pretty good. I did the first day yesterday and I'm about half way through day 2, now. I think the jumping around between books and working on python, as well, will be good for me. I'm getting really antsy with ruby and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on how it works. From here on out, it's probably going to be more about learning about the methods and applying what I know.

The Coding Complete book is starting to frustrate me a little bit, to be honest. It's talking about some things that I don't really understand. A lot of it is over my head, so I'm taking it in pieces. The pickaxe book is good because it keeps me learning ruby and I need it to do the assignments in the 7 Languages in 7 weeks book: the first language is ruby. My cousin also sent me Programming in Python 3: A Complete Introduction to the Python Language, but I think that I'm going to hold off on starting that one, at least until I finish the Code Academy exercises.

I guess what I'm really struggling with most right now is understanding how everything fits together. I'm not completely lost, though. I know HTML, and I've worked with JavaScript and JQuery, but I don't really understand how Rails fits in. I understand a little bit, but it's fuzzy for me. The thing is, that no matter how frustrated or stumped I get, I realize that as long as keep working on it, it gets better.

Post #1

...so I decided to start writing this blog to become a better person.

I just finished reading Post Office, by Charles Burkowski last night night on the advice from James Auchter through his blog/mailing list.  The purpose is to work on my writing and learn from other people who are interested in the same things that I am.

I have a goal to become an internet/software developer...I'm starting from scratch.  Toward that end, I have done most of the tutorials on codeacademy.com and I am currently reading The Book of Ruby.  I feel like I'm learning a lot and I can do most simple things, such as, conditionals, methods, classes, etc., but I don't really consider myself a programmer, just yet.  Though reading The Book of Ruby,  I have decided that there are a number of edits that could be made to that book to make it easier for people who are new to programming.   I imagine myself doing that one day, once I actually learn the language.  Maybe I'll write my own book one day, who knows.

While I was working on the python tutorials on on code academy, I would post my achievements on twitter.  I was probably doing this just to make people think I was cool or something, but I tell myself that I am doing it to prod one of my friendswho follow me on twitter into picking up programming so that I would have a someone to discuss this stuff with.   Anyway, what happened was that I got a new follower who directed my to the CodeEval website.  This is one of my new favorite things and I am currently working on my first challenge on the site.  I needed this, for a little bit of direction in my learning.

Anyway, if you've read this far...that's awesome.  Keep reading my blog and comment often; we're into the same stuff.  I will be grateful for any advice and be happy to give mine...I'll try really hard not to be weird. Other things that I do are foreign languages, movies, cool tv shows, astronomy, and go to the gym.  I like most forms of music.