From: Skotty Date: 2006-11-03T04:40:38+09:00 Subject: Re: Just a question to throw out there... That was the most amusing email I've read all day. Thank you, that made me feel about 300 times more confident. Naturally I think a major part of my problem is I'm trying TOO hard to become a programmer and not enough time focusing on the basics. I've read several other pieces of code, and scripts and thought "well hey i can do that." which I guess is probably not the best way to go about it. I AM learning, I mean I guess at least a little bit. But it feels like it's taking me a really long time to retain. Well thanks for the welcome, I'm sure I'll get it Im just frustrated that I'm not getting it right away. Skt Webpage (www.freewebs.com/scottygiveshighfives) Email: Shyguyfrenzy@gmail.com (That's a mario reference.) You sing a new song, unsung. ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Edward Gray II" To: "ruby-talk ML" Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 11:34 AM Subject: Re: Just a question to throw out there... > On Nov 2, 2006, at 12:23 PM, Skotty wrote: > >> Another noobrube question. >> >> Is this the "easiest" language to learn? I'm well aware that none of >> these programming languages are "easy" but I've been struggling with >> this for a while and don't want to give up. >> >> Or is there something else I should know first BEFORE going to Ruby? >> Why's guide is a biggggg help but I don't know why I can't retain this >> information. >> >> Any help guides? >> Anything? > > There was a fun side conversation on this at RubyConf this year. > Basically, you need to know this: Computers are really, really stupid. > ;) > > Don't buy that? Try this exercise: > > Make up a random number. > > You had no trouble doing that, right? Well congratulations, because you > just leap ahead of about 30 years of computer research in a few seconds. > ;) > > Obviously, I'm being flippant here, but the point stands. Learning to > program is hard because you need to dumb yourself down to the level of > the machine and express problems in terms it can understand. > > Did you ever play that game in school where you had to tell your teacher > how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? You write up what you > just know are excellent instructions and as you read them the teacher > makes a mess all over the place, spreading jelly on unopened bread > packages, table-tops, and other children, just by following the > instructions literally. The teacher is simulating a computer here. > > In the RubyConf discussion we decided that our popular books and > tutorials don't always do a very good job of teaching you how to think > like that. Therein lies at least one hurdle of learning to program. > > Here's another interesting point: most of us who have been speaking to > machines for a reasonable period of time can pick up new languages pretty > easily. The reason is that we already have a lot of practice with the > thinking-dumb part and we just need to learn the new syntax. (Our books > and tutorials *are* good at teaching this.) > > Anyway, the point of all this is: don't panic. We all go through this > adjustment period you're in now. It gets easier. The problem is that > you're just way too intelligent. Don't worry though, we'll have you > dumbed down in no time! :D > > Welcome to programming. > > James Edward Gray II > >