From: Meador Inge <meadori@...>
Date: 2006-07-27T10:54:19+09:00
Subject: Re: OO Paradigm and Ruby Exercises for a Beginner

Picklegnome,

I am happy to hear of your enthusiasm for Ruby and programming.

Others have mentioned good books, so I will spare from adding to the list.
The bit of advice I can given is simple: just program a lot. You can
read web pages and books all day long, but some things you just won't
get until you come across them on your own.

When I first started to get serious about programming I would read a
lot of code. A lot the time I would get confused and wonder why
someone did this or that. To the point were it was distracting me from
really learning. I finally just started to code a lot and after a
while I would come up with similiar solutions. Then I would think
back, "Huh, that's why they did that."

Don't get me wrong studying and reading are definitely great for
learning new ideas and the way others think about things. My point is
that you have to be trying to program and solve problems on your own
for it to be most effective.

Best of luck!

--Meador

On 7/26/06, Picklegnome <picklegnome@nerdshack.com> wrote:
> I am at a loss for where to begin here, so I'll jump in.
>
>     I have worked with several languages, and Ruby is the first one I've
> really felt good about. I picked up the Pickaxe book and read through it.
> While I get confused at times when "shortcuts" are used (there seem to be a
> half-dozen valid ways to do almost anything, with various amounts of
> verbosity and code needed - I am used to using explicit "return" statements,
> for example) I haven't had much trouble understanding the syntax.
>     However, I find that I am running into roadblocks when I attempt to
> program anything remotely complex. I've looked at many of the exercises in
> Chris Pine's _Learn to Program_ and I don't find these too difficult,
> especially since they seem to be focused around syntax. I suspect my
> frustration is with the object oriented paradigm. I have a superficial
> understanding of Classes and Objects and such, and I understand why OO is
> useful. However, I am befuddled by much of the code that I read. While it is
> possible that I am simply not proficient at algorithm design and am unable
> to follow algorithms that are designed by others, I suspect that it is more
> deeply rooted in my lack of "getting" OO.
>
> I've got no idea what resources might be used to overcome this problem, and
> I am not even certain of my diagnosis. However, I would appreciate any
> suggestions, resources, or help that you could offer me, because I am
> excited about Ruby and eager to get past this blockage.
>
> Thanks,
> Picklegnome
>
>
> P.S. I apologize for not using my real name; I understand this to be bad
> etiquette. As I am a minor, my parents feel I am "at risk" and have asked me
> to keep all such information private. I hope not to offend by following
> their instruction.
>
>
>