From: corey konrad <0011@...>
Date: 2006-05-23T06:04:09+09:00
Subject: Re: program writing

hmm i dont really have any problems in life that could solved by 
programming. Everything i can think of writing is something that already 
exists. It would be kind of rediculous to write a program in ruby that 
already exists in another language wouldnt it? I think i would fall 
asleep from boredom doing that kind of translation. I dont know i guess 
i thought it would be more of a creative and exciting thing to get into 
that would fill my head with ideas. I thought i would be able to do 
anything on my computer i guess is what i mean, like just deciding to 
write a paint program that does something that other paint programs dont 
do, but i realize now that a project like that would probably take years 
of experience and alot of people working many hours. Like i said i think 
my expectations of programming were unrealistic



Ryan Leavengood wrote:
> I understand what you are going through. I frequently see cool Ruby
> projects released and think "man, why didn't I think of that!"
> 
> Basically when it comes to programming you need a problem that you
> want to solve. For example let's say there is some repetitive thing
> you always do with your computer (downloading and organizing photos
> from a digital camera, ripping your CDs into mp3s, downloading stuff
> from the internet, etc.) You can make your life easier by writing a
> Ruby script to automate something like that.
> 
> If you just have an empty text editor but no pressing need to solve a
> certain problem, of course you will draw a blank. If you were an
> author of novels and didn't have even a basic idea of what you wanted
> to write about, how much do you think you would write?
> 
> As a personal example of using Ruby to solve a problem, I wrote a
> script that uses WWW:Mechanize to log into my local library's web-site
> and automatically renew books or DVDs that are due. If something
> cannot be renewed the script emails me. I have this loaded on my web
> host to run via cron every day. Before I had this I would frequently
> forget about books that were due and would then have to make a special
> trip to the library to return overdue books and pay needless fees. Now
> I can count on the script to let me know when things HAVE to be
> returned, and live my life normally otherwise.
> 
> That is the kind of problem you need to think about solving.
> Technology should make your life easier.
> 
> Regarding reading source code, like any language, your reading
> comprehension will improve over time. Still, code is frequently much
> harder to read than any human language, and even Ruby can be hard to
> read if it is written badly. But most of us like Ruby so much because
> it is one of the easiest to read programming languages.
> 
> Ryan


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