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I remember reading horstmann's books in college and it doesn't surprise me at all that java is the hammer he reaches for given a particular nail. I have to say

I remember reading horstmann's books in college and it doesn't surprise me at all that java is the hammer he reaches for given a particular nail. I have to say I find it an odd choice for small replacements for bash scripts. I think python or golang are probably better choices for that purpose. Java is one of those 'enterprise' backend languages which lend itself to making a team productive over making the individual productive, and I say this as a java / go dev who's most comfortable with java for most backend work.

ggerules 2y ago
Dr. Horstmann was my advisor in college, San Jose State. I just loved his lectures, very dry sense of humor, and extremely funny. He was just getting started writing books in the early 90s. He has this awesome way of thinking about programming, that I imparted to my own students when it came my turn to teach programming. I wish there some videos of his classes that I could go back to and share with people. Good website also, https://horstmann.com/ https://horstmann.com/ The picture on the website with him in the row boat has a funny story with it. When asked why he is in a row boat, he would reply, "Students are in the row boat with me, learning to program. At some point I push them out of the boat into the eel infested lake. The ones who are clever enough to make it back to the shore will be good programmers." All of this said with a faint hint of a German accent and a sly smile. If you happen to read this, Dr. Horstman. I made it to shore. Thanks! It has been an awesome journey!
- spike021 2y ago
  That's an interesting experience. I also had him as a professor a while back and he was awful. He was always looking at his phone or computer especially during project presentations and completely ignoring what anyone said. He also didn't seem to know much course material in general. What I remember most is his obsession with Emacs. There was one time that I was grateful though, I had to buy a few of his books and one of them had a defect from the printer, so he helped me get a new copy from the publisher for free.
anitil 2y ago
> lend itself to making a team productive over making the individual productive That's a really insightful way of presenting this. I think if that's how I'd been introduced to Java I might even have tolerated it.

ggerules 2y ago

Dr. Horstmann was my advisor in college, San Jose State. I just loved his lectures, very dry sense of humor, and extremely funny. He was just getting started writing books in the early 90s. He has this awesome way of thinking about programming, that I imparted to my own students when it came my turn to teach programming. I wish there some videos of his classes that I could go back to and share with people. Good website also, https://horstmann.com/ https://horstmann.com/ The picture on the website with him in the row boat has a funny story with it. When asked why he is in a row boat, he would reply, "Students are in the row boat with me, learning to program. At some point I push them out of the boat into the eel infested lake. The ones who are clever enough to make it back to the shore will be good programmers." All of this said with a faint hint of a German accent and a sly smile. If you happen to read this, Dr. Horstman. I made it to shore. Thanks! It has been an awesome journey!

spike021 2y ago
That's an interesting experience. I also had him as a professor a while back and he was awful. He was always looking at his phone or computer especially during project presentations and completely ignoring what anyone said. He also didn't seem to know much course material in general. What I remember most is his obsession with Emacs. There was one time that I was grateful though, I had to buy a few of his books and one of them had a defect from the printer, so he helped me get a new copy from the publisher for free.

anitil 2y ago

> lend itself to making a team productive over making the individual productive That's a really insightful way of presenting this. I think if that's how I'd been introduced to Java I might even have tolerated it.