3 ms·

I increasingly find little novel in programming technologies (at least those that make their way out of the academic research labs into the hands of real-world

by tjr 13y ago

I increasingly find little novel in programming technologies (at least those that make their way out of the academic research labs into the hands of real-world developers). I've already learned enough languages and frameworks and libraries that most new programming tools I encounter I can quickly size up as, "Oh, this is just like X only with A instead of B". In short, the more of this sort of stuff you learn, the easier it tends to get to learn yet more. You might find some study of formal programming language theory useful, as being able to refer to language constructs by name could make it easier to categorize and compare & contrast them in your mind.

test001only 13y ago
Can you share how long you have been a programmer? Also can you give pointers like books or courses (coursera) for studying formal programming language theory?
- tjr 13y ago
  Hmm, I started programming around 1991, but didn't take it seriously until around 1997. I haven't gone through this class, but it appears to cover the basics of programming language topics: https://www.udacity.com/course/cs262 https://www.udacity.com/course/cs262 And I like this book: http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/essentials-programming-languages http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/essentials-programming-languag... You can get much, much deeper into this topic, but skimming the surface a bit was really all I was suggesting, unless you have interest in programming language design in particular.
  - test001only 13y ago
    Thanks for the links. Is "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" from MIT press similar to essentials programming language?
    - tjr 13y ago
      There is some overlap. EOPL naturally focuses on, and goes deeper into, programming language design topics, but SICP covers it some as well. Chapter 4, especially: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-25.html#%_chap_4 http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-25.html...

by tjr 13y ago

test001only 13y ago

Can you share how long you have been a programmer? Also can you give pointers like books or courses (coursera) for studying formal programming language theory?

tjr 13y ago
Hmm, I started programming around 1991, but didn't take it seriously until around 1997. I haven't gone through this class, but it appears to cover the basics of programming language topics: https://www.udacity.com/course/cs262 https://www.udacity.com/course/cs262 And I like this book: http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/essentials-programming-languages http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/essentials-programming-languag... You can get much, much deeper into this topic, but skimming the surface a bit was really all I was suggesting, unless you have interest in programming language design in particular.
- test001only 13y ago
  Thanks for the links. Is "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" from MIT press similar to essentials programming language?
  - tjr 13y ago
    There is some overlap. EOPL naturally focuses on, and goes deeper into, programming language design topics, but SICP covers it some as well. Chapter 4, especially: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-25.html#%_chap_4 http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-25.html...