MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-02-23 |
| FROM | From: "Steve Milo"
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Realizing the meaning of GPL software.
|
Today I helped a friend in his Intro to C course, he is currently suffering
from a back problem and is going through some personal issues. He asked me to
help him out as much as possible, I had asked him how far along he had gotten
so far. His reply was 'I dont have anything right now', I am always reluctant
to get to involved in something that might turn into me doing 90% of the work.
But I decided to take this on because he is a friend and an all around good
guy. Even though he seems very slow in absorbing C he is very literate, he is
very good at abstract conversation (which is more than I can say for about 90%
of the CompSci students in general if not just at BC). Earlier on I gave him
an overview of how C works in a computing environment and what the relevance
of all the syntax is. That seemed to have helped him along in his learning,
and he was able to finish another homework I had helped him.
Today, however, I did most of the heavy lifting, but talked through how I was
figuring the specifications out. As I typed the code I spoke it outloud and
how it was relevant to the rest of the program. This method helped me get a
better grasp on my technical communication skills. He followed along and
asked questions when it wasnt intrusive but relevant. This is probably what
the buzzword 'Extreme Programming' is supposed to mean.
Throughout this effort he clearly felt guilty that I was doing much of the
work, but considering his condition it was forgivable. My reply was: 'No one
ever picks up this stuff on their own'. I didnt really realize the
significance of what I had said, nor the significance of this excersize until now.
It is true no one ever picks up this stuff on their own, *ever*, there is
always collaboration involved somewhere. The philosophical roots of C are
based on collaboration, the CVS bullshit is just a technical excuse for poor
programming skills and lack of technical talent. I had been taking for
granted the possibility that some of the people in the advanced classes
(despite their inability to communicate clearly) was some kind of inherent
talent. I was completely wrong, I have also realized why it is important to
understand the important fundamentals of programming. Why Java and PHP are
completely worthless excuses for programming langauges. Those 'programming
languages' are not designed to make the lives of programmers easier. They are
designed to cover up the poor skills of supposed programmers who werent
studying when they were supposed to.
I should also mention that we were working under a time constraint. I had
about 4 hours to crank out this code, document it and debug it. I documented
everything as I went along, quite frankly I am still amazed at myself(whether
it is warranted can probably be debated). I finished 90% of the project in
about 2 hours(108 lines of code including documentation, not much by many
standards probably).
Of course this is an Intro to C homework, but the excersize was intellectual.
How to communicate what you are trying to accomplish while thinking through
the problem, so that the person you are helping is atleast gaining some
benefit from it.
Steve M
--
Open WebMail Project (http://openwebmail.org)
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
|
|
