Class Registration, Or Time To Evaluate All Life Choices Again
It’s time to register for classes again. I’ve been learning Java. And as it turns out, Java is bit archaic. I’m getting the impression I’m learning the dewy decimal system, while everyone is using google. Before tackling this latest life endeavor of mine, I was aware of different programing languages and that some where trendier than others. I most certainly wasn’t aware of the epic social implications of simply saying:
“Oh, I’m into programing. I’m learning Java.”
Continued...
Responses are in two categories:
The first (and of course my personal favorite) -
“What?? Really? Oh wow. That’s awesome. You go girl” or something to that effect. Obviously, I’m gonna like something that strokes my ego. But on a deeper level, I’m really proud of myself for jumping into this. It was drastically different then anything I’ve ever studied so it was hard to make the plunge and hand over my credit card for the class, but nothing I’ve ever studied had felt so spot on. And validation mixed with being impressed with me for my choices. Well, that feels great.
Less favorable response (and most commonly one as of late) -
“Java? What the fuck are you doing with Java? Are you in junior high? Please, I program in Ruby and so does anyone who’s anybody.”
So I wrote that in the most condescending way because that’s how I hear this comment. It most likely isn’t meant like that. But I hear this and it throws off my little world. This comment comes from people who probably know what they are talking about. I assume this because I’ve been hanging out with a geekier crowd who seems to live and breath programing. And while I should be view this a an awesome networking connection I can’t shake these two horrendous facts:
A) I’m wrong and B) I don’t know how to get things right.
And I of course don’t react maturely to any of these. My personality is very argumentative. Even when I’m not sure what I’m talking about (shhh… don’t tell). So to hear I’m wrong starts me off on a long winded defense, where I won’t stop until I’ve proven the point correct, even if it’s wrong. I know I do this, and later when I reflect back I just feel like a jerk. It’s my own internal insecurities with my life choices that make me blurt out opposition and get all pissy over a good point that I really should listen too. And now that I am reflecting, I could spend a lot more time and money and energy one next term with Java. Or maybe I shouldn’t. Which brings up today’s blog thesis and point B: What am I doing with my life? So should I learn Ruby? How? I can’t even understand the installation process. I’m not stupid. I just don’t have the tools. Where do I get this information? I’m at a total loss. This seems like a perfectly logical reason for another mini life crisis. At least Intro to Comp Science II isn’t filling up that fast.
What’s also scary is I’m about the reach the six month bail point. As I’ve been hearing from EVERYONE, six months is the first marker for people moving off the Island. Then it’s a year or two after that (Don’t worry, I’m not bailing, I still love it here). On a side note, I find this really ironic because the two year mark is how long people make it in Alaska. Because two freaking cold miserable winters is all a normal person can handle. So, I guess the same is true for paradise?
“Oh, I’m into programing. I’m learning Java.”
Continued...
Responses are in two categories:
The first (and of course my personal favorite) -
“What?? Really? Oh wow. That’s awesome. You go girl” or something to that effect. Obviously, I’m gonna like something that strokes my ego. But on a deeper level, I’m really proud of myself for jumping into this. It was drastically different then anything I’ve ever studied so it was hard to make the plunge and hand over my credit card for the class, but nothing I’ve ever studied had felt so spot on. And validation mixed with being impressed with me for my choices. Well, that feels great.
Less favorable response (and most commonly one as of late) -
“Java? What the fuck are you doing with Java? Are you in junior high? Please, I program in Ruby and so does anyone who’s anybody.”
So I wrote that in the most condescending way because that’s how I hear this comment. It most likely isn’t meant like that. But I hear this and it throws off my little world. This comment comes from people who probably know what they are talking about. I assume this because I’ve been hanging out with a geekier crowd who seems to live and breath programing. And while I should be view this a an awesome networking connection I can’t shake these two horrendous facts:
A) I’m wrong and B) I don’t know how to get things right.
And I of course don’t react maturely to any of these. My personality is very argumentative. Even when I’m not sure what I’m talking about (shhh… don’t tell). So to hear I’m wrong starts me off on a long winded defense, where I won’t stop until I’ve proven the point correct, even if it’s wrong. I know I do this, and later when I reflect back I just feel like a jerk. It’s my own internal insecurities with my life choices that make me blurt out opposition and get all pissy over a good point that I really should listen too. And now that I am reflecting, I could spend a lot more time and money and energy one next term with Java. Or maybe I shouldn’t. Which brings up today’s blog thesis and point B: What am I doing with my life? So should I learn Ruby? How? I can’t even understand the installation process. I’m not stupid. I just don’t have the tools. Where do I get this information? I’m at a total loss. This seems like a perfectly logical reason for another mini life crisis. At least Intro to Comp Science II isn’t filling up that fast.
What’s also scary is I’m about the reach the six month bail point. As I’ve been hearing from EVERYONE, six months is the first marker for people moving off the Island. Then it’s a year or two after that (Don’t worry, I’m not bailing, I still love it here). On a side note, I find this really ironic because the two year mark is how long people make it in Alaska. Because two freaking cold miserable winters is all a normal person can handle. So, I guess the same is true for paradise?
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5 Comments:
Dangit, must've missed the memo. I've been here 26+ years :P. Anywho, from one person who doesn't know anything about all the programming mumbo jumbo you just avoided blabbering on about to another who probably knows a heck of a lot more; relax. Life is long when you look forward. If ya wanna get to Ruby or that Python thing or whatever else is out there, you'll get to it. Java's probably a good place to start, if for nothing else, to build a foundation on how these computing languages work in general. many of my ICS major friends started with java and branched off from there. Stick with the program, stick with your plan. Ruby and the rest of em' will still be there if ya need it.
Okay, cue Jess arguing ;) j/k. Take care and have a good rest of semester/year :).
i've actually been waiting for you to encounter that. java, though core to most of the CS curricula i've heard about, stopped being cool in like 1998.
my general sense of things is that it doesn't really matter so much what language you learn first, but that getting a grasp of the concepts is the important part, because those apply to any language.
basically, fuck the haters. tell them to go learn perl 6.
i agree with a d woods. the important things are the concepts you pick up. it does matter to a limited degree what language you're starting with, since some languages are object-oriented or procedural, etc, but I haven't really noticed a difference.
it comes down to preference and application. preference is largely influenced by your programming environment -- is your OS windows, mac, or linux? -- and the IDE you use. i studied java throughout college and i always thought it was clunky, but that was because it was difficult at the time to export anything useful (applets?). i love programming in C# with visual studio .NET express because VS.NET makes it REALLY easy to write gui-based programs that are immediately useful under windows. php is also fun because it lets you create really dynamic webpages from any platform.
that kind of covers application as well. i've heard from "people who know" that java is great because it's platform-independent, meaning you can writing something anywhere and easily run it under another OS. i've also heard that it's terribly inefficient, and that C is way better because you can really optimize system resources. a lot of graphical processing is done with C code, for example, because you need speed and number crunching.
if you really want to blow your mind, take a look at Lisp. Everything, including functions and commands, are based on modifiable lists, which means you can technically write code that writes itself. it's also one of the oldest programming languages, and is primarily used for artificial intelligence. i saw a guy once who wrote a fractal generation algorithm in Lisp. wow.
Thanks you guys. Your comments & advice have all made me feel a lot better!
I'm going to take the next class I think, b/c shit, I like the stuff, even if it's totally confusing. I feel like a rock star when I get it to work. I do feel like I'm learning good concepts & I think i was just all bent out of shape from trying to defending something when I have no idea what I'm talking about. Now I'm over it!
Then, also, it'll be 5 months from now, and summertime in Hawaii and everything should just be awesome.
Also...
@dr.zaus - while i was internet stalking you (sorry, but you know) i saw you used to live in beersheva! crazy! i was there for like 4 months in 2005. I wrote a bunch about it in my other blogspot blog if you're curious.
Ok, this makes 5 out of 5 comments in support of Java and ignoring jerks telling you not to study something because it isn't "cool". Java is taught throughout the world as an introductory programming language for a good reason. It is broadly used throughout the world for many kinds of applications, and learning it will teach you the essence of just about everything you need to know about programming - and thus will prepare you for any number of other (also useful) programming languages, like Ruby.
FWIW, I'm a computer science professor so I naturally think this, but I'm also a co-founder of a startup (www.zumobi.com) where we use Python and Ruby, and we'd never hire a programmer who knew only that web stuff without a broader set of skills.
Starting with Java is just fine. The more important part, I think, is to be working with good instructors who can make programming fun by explaining how the simple things you are doing to start relate to all the cool stuff you use computers for.
If you're interested, you can see how I went about teaching an intro to programming course using Java a few years go.
- Ben
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