MESSAGE
| DATE | 2006-06-08 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Re: [nylug-talk] PIG in new york?
|
> Another quick idea -- if we're not satisfied with what we find out
> there, we can always write our own, either as a standalone book or as a
> HOWTO at TLDP.
>
There are advantages of writing your own. I gave this some thought
today. One of the reasons I wrote my own Perl text was because the
other works didn't address the needs I had as a teacher. There was too
many cook books, too many short cuts, not a clear enough explanation of
proper programming technique, how Perl fit into the entire programming
environment, the ecosystem of Free Software and general computing. I
wanted to give the student the ability to evaluate pros and cons, not
just of Perl, but also other languages. I needed them to understand
memory is managed in a general sense. There is just so much slop on a
stick among programmers. I wanted my programmers to give serious
consideration of software architecture.
The result was, IMO, the best programming class that had been available,
not just Perl. The work was based on years of serious training of
programmers and it was the students who gave the program its biggest
praise. At the end of the program, they could do things they had never
thought they could do before. They had deep and lasting understanding
of coding, Perl, and computers.
I often taught returning house wives in continuing education, and the
program and text are largely designed as such. But to my surprise, the
guys who got some of the most out of the approach were the serious
engineers and scientists who were forced to actually view the language
on a basic level of bits and bytes, and then built up their
understanding from there.
Since I largely became a professional programmer as a result of my
coding when I went for my PhD in Physical Chemistry, I suppose I took a
very math or science textbook like approach which resonated with other
serious engineers. There are a lot more decent general chem books than
beginning programming texts. I wanted to bridge that gap.
The resulting work was worthwhile and unique.
Ruben
> dsc
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