3 ms·

I definitely agree with your first exercise. It would give some kind of confidence and any newbie would feel at home to web apps. Reading SICP/git; add to that

I definitely agree with your first exercise. It would give some kind of confidence and any newbie would feel at home to web apps. Reading SICP/git; add to that Data structure CS stuff is not at all mandatory to become hacker. Thats the "school" way or maybe it worked for some people. My gut feeling is you need to work on some part of your app every day. It would lead to html/css/JS and then get/post basics and common boilerplate routines for them in java/python/ruby etc.Unless until someone starts real programming; reading books wont do any good. Stumble across problem; Google; download sample solution..make it work on pc; figure out how it worked; tinker; customize and keep logs in your work journal. It would motivate you on some down day. At least I feel happy when I solve problem this way. There are "Big problems to solve" but maybe I have to learn about "small and smart problems which people have already solved" first. And as newton said "I could see farther because I am sitting on shoulder of giants"...something like that. Once it becomes part of thinking process then you would automatically go to books to figure out what you need at this point of time. So becoming a hacker is not a goal; goal is to get that attitude deeply imbibed in everything you do with problems. disclaimer: I am just at the bottom of the pyramid actually. But whenever I get to know things about programmers; I find all I wrote above. P.S. get "Just for Fun- Revolutionary story birth of Linux operating systems". You can read some good accounts of hacking there. It was all about tinkering around and fixing.

mechanical_fish 19y ago
I don't disagree with this at all. There are lots of ways to learn, and everyone's style is different. That's why I ended up offering two distinct styles of advice, separated by the magic dotted line (-----). I use a mixture of the two... one which is actually skewed pretty heavily in your "hack away on the app and solve problems" approach. Some of us like learning from books (as well as by practicing). Other people like learning by practice, as well as from books. Some people actually go to school and get degrees in comp sci. I skipped that part: After far too many years studying science, I got bored with formal lectures, because they move at a pace that isn't my pace (i.e. "usually too slow, except when they're too fast"). OTOH, other people thrive on the camaraderie and the formal structure of a class. I think your answer is wise to emphasize that building stuff, and learning via experience, is the only real path to becoming a hacker. Some book learning will help, but it's not the essence of the matter.

mechanical_fish 19y ago

I don't disagree with this at all. There are lots of ways to learn, and everyone's style is different. That's why I ended up offering two distinct styles of advice, separated by the magic dotted line (-----). I use a mixture of the two... one which is actually skewed pretty heavily in your "hack away on the app and solve problems" approach. Some of us like learning from books (as well as by practicing). Other people like learning by practice, as well as from books. Some people actually go to school and get degrees in comp sci. I skipped that part: After far too many years studying science, I got bored with formal lectures, because they move at a pace that isn't my pace (i.e. "usually too slow, except when they're too fast"). OTOH, other people thrive on the camaraderie and the formal structure of a class. I think your answer is wise to emphasize that building stuff, and learning via experience, is the only real path to becoming a hacker. Some book learning will help, but it's not the essence of the matter.