6 ms·

Try every one of them. I saw your submissions and comments. The time you spend asking these type of questions here at HN would be better spent learning. My gues

by saurabh 18y ago

Try every one of them. I saw your submissions and comments. The time you spend asking these type of questions here at HN would be better spent learning. My guess is you are procrastinating.

yearsinrock 18y ago
ok i'll start but which book should i refer for ruby
- raju 18y ago
  I would recommend Peter Coopers "Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional" book. Its well written and pretty exhaustive. Another book, once you get past Peters would be Flanagan and Matz (the creator of Ruby) "The Ruby Programming Language". Good luck.
- dazzawazza 18y ago
  For python I can't recommend a book. Dive in to Python is available online but to be honest the best thing to do is just start using it. It's just not hard. DIP: http://www.diveintopython.org/toc/index.html http://www.diveintopython.org/toc/index.html Tutorial: http://docs.python.org/tut/tut.html http://docs.python.org/tut/tut.html Std Modules: http://docs.python.org/modindex.html http://docs.python.org/modindex.html Std Library Reference: http://docs.python.org/lib/lib.html http://docs.python.org/lib/lib.html good luck
  - arockwell 18y ago
    I'll second dive into python. I thought it was an excellent read. The book does a good job of teaching the language while showing a lot of practical examples.
- icey 18y ago
  http://justfuckinggoogleit.com/ http://justfuckinggoogleit.com/
  - apu 18y ago
    Google is a terrible way to find good programming/CS books. I think that's why the OP was asking here, where he can expect to find books that other hackers have used personally and can thus make earnest and informed recommendations. I did indeed learn some languages using the google route, but in retrospect, I could have saved myself a lot of time and pain if a forum like this had been around, where I could get expert opinions.
    - gtani 18y ago
      Google's not bad for ruby, scheme, etc. tutorials. I've been doing same for OCaml and F#; Also try (espec. delicious) http://searchyc.com/python+tutorial http://searchyc.com/python+tutorial http://del.icio.us/tag/ruby+tutorial http://del.icio.us/tag/ruby+tutorial http://technorati.com/tag/Ruby+tutorial http://technorati.com/tag/Ruby+tutorial http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/search?q=python+tutorial&x=14&y=9 http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/search?q=python+tutorial... here's a starting line: admin tasks you do repetitivly in whatever o/s you use. Automate them. Build in checks for filename conflicts, large file/network transfers, run script off hours, etc. or rewrite something from the activestate's CPAN-loose equivalent, submit it back when it's tested robust and you know it's not a dup http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Python http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Python and, oh yea, Martelli's Python in a Nutshell from Oreilly. Covers 2.4, read the PEPs to see what's new in 2.5 and 2.6. Also, Matz's original ruby nutshell on Oreilly, the little one that covers 1.6. It's little outdated, but it's also a small book that you can read carefully , cover to cover
      - silentbicycle 18y ago
        Word. Looking for programming info via combinations of del.icio.us tags became surprisingly useful for me once I knew the basics well enough to know what I was looking for. > admin tasks you do repetitivly in whatever o/s you use. Excellent advice. When you find yourself in a situation where you keep having to do something boring and repetitive, try to write a script for it. The immediate feedback and sense of accomplishment from this will teach you things that spending weeks on internet forums never could.
ivey 18y ago
Exactly. When I was a proto-hacker I suffered from a kind of paranoid monoglossia. I had found Perl, Perl made me happy, therefore I needed no other languages, thankyouverymuch. Over time, I've grown out of that, and have learned to appreciate learning a language simply for the sake of learning it. Playing with Erlang and Lisp and C makes you a better Rubyist. Sub any other languages for those 4. So my advice? Pick one. Any one will do. Spend a week hacking in it. Read a little, but don't read too much without actually using the language. Write some programs that solve a very small itch, or do something fun like simulating a swarm of bees or creating two bots that battle to the death. Play, and then after a week or two, play with something else. I think new programmers sometimes worry about learning a language that will be financially viable, or will help them get a job. I know I did. I also know I'm worse off for that belief. I would have been better served, both personally and professionally, if I'd just played more.

by saurabh 18y ago

Try every one of them. I saw your submissions and comments. The time you spend asking these type of questions here at HN would be better spent learning. My guess is you are procrastinating.

yearsinrock 18y ago

ok i'll start but which book should i refer for ruby

raju 18y ago
I would recommend Peter Coopers "Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional" book. Its well written and pretty exhaustive. Another book, once you get past Peters would be Flanagan and Matz (the creator of Ruby) "The Ruby Programming Language". Good luck.
dazzawazza 18y ago
For python I can't recommend a book. Dive in to Python is available online but to be honest the best thing to do is just start using it. It's just not hard. DIP: http://www.diveintopython.org/toc/index.html http://www.diveintopython.org/toc/index.html Tutorial: http://docs.python.org/tut/tut.html http://docs.python.org/tut/tut.html Std Modules: http://docs.python.org/modindex.html http://docs.python.org/modindex.html Std Library Reference: http://docs.python.org/lib/lib.html http://docs.python.org/lib/lib.html good luck
- arockwell 18y ago
  I'll second dive into python. I thought it was an excellent read. The book does a good job of teaching the language while showing a lot of practical examples.
icey 18y ago
http://justfuckinggoogleit.com/ http://justfuckinggoogleit.com/
- apu 18y ago
  Google is a terrible way to find good programming/CS books. I think that's why the OP was asking here, where he can expect to find books that other hackers have used personally and can thus make earnest and informed recommendations. I did indeed learn some languages using the google route, but in retrospect, I could have saved myself a lot of time and pain if a forum like this had been around, where I could get expert opinions.
  - gtani 18y ago
    Google's not bad for ruby, scheme, etc. tutorials. I've been doing same for OCaml and F#; Also try (espec. delicious) http://searchyc.com/python+tutorial http://searchyc.com/python+tutorial http://del.icio.us/tag/ruby+tutorial http://del.icio.us/tag/ruby+tutorial http://technorati.com/tag/Ruby+tutorial http://technorati.com/tag/Ruby+tutorial http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/search?q=python+tutorial&x=14&y=9 http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/search?q=python+tutorial... here's a starting line: admin tasks you do repetitivly in whatever o/s you use. Automate them. Build in checks for filename conflicts, large file/network transfers, run script off hours, etc. or rewrite something from the activestate's CPAN-loose equivalent, submit it back when it's tested robust and you know it's not a dup http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Python http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Python and, oh yea, Martelli's Python in a Nutshell from Oreilly. Covers 2.4, read the PEPs to see what's new in 2.5 and 2.6. Also, Matz's original ruby nutshell on Oreilly, the little one that covers 1.6. It's little outdated, but it's also a small book that you can read carefully , cover to cover
    - silentbicycle 18y ago
      Word. Looking for programming info via combinations of del.icio.us tags became surprisingly useful for me once I knew the basics well enough to know what I was looking for. > admin tasks you do repetitivly in whatever o/s you use. Excellent advice. When you find yourself in a situation where you keep having to do something boring and repetitive, try to write a script for it. The immediate feedback and sense of accomplishment from this will teach you things that spending weeks on internet forums never could.

ivey 18y ago

Exactly. When I was a proto-hacker I suffered from a kind of paranoid monoglossia. I had found Perl, Perl made me happy, therefore I needed no other languages, thankyouverymuch. Over time, I've grown out of that, and have learned to appreciate learning a language simply for the sake of learning it. Playing with Erlang and Lisp and C makes you a better Rubyist. Sub any other languages for those 4. So my advice? Pick one. Any one will do. Spend a week hacking in it. Read a little, but don't read too much without actually using the language. Write some programs that solve a very small itch, or do something fun like simulating a swarm of bees or creating two bots that battle to the death. Play, and then after a week or two, play with something else. I think new programmers sometimes worry about learning a language that will be financially viable, or will help them get a job. I know I did. I also know I'm worse off for that belief. I would have been better served, both personally and professionally, if I'd just played more.