From: MikkelFJ <mikkelfj-anti-spam@...>
Date: 2002-11-27T04:47:31+09:00
Subject: Re: New programmer


"Jason Ashbaugh" <jason@junction111.com> wrote in message
news:200211260119.34637.jason@junction111.com...
> Hi all, I just wanted to say hello, and that I am going to be learning
> programming on Ruby because of all the great things I have heard about it.
I
> know about 2 months of C, so I'm starting from ground up :)

Welcome to interesting, challenging and sometimes frustating world of
programming.

You are very lucky to have Ruby so you can focus on the essentials.

It is good to know C too, becuase by knowing how computers work, we can
write better code, even if we user a higher level langauge such as Ruby.

If you need ideas for small programs to write for learning programming, try
to write a small game. Games are fun and challenging - you can always add
new features and you get early feedback both positive and negative. If you
can write a game there are many other kinds of programs you can write.
For example, write a break the wall game: a bat on the ground controlled by
left and right arrow key, a ball bouncing off the bat and the walls, hitting
bricks in the cealing. When a brick is hit, it disappears. When the ball is
not catched by the bat, you loose a life. The objective is to remove all
bricks. Initially there are perhaps 5 rows of bricks. The RUDL library (SDL
Ruby interface) will give give you access to cross platform graphics and
sound.

If you publish early, I'm sure a lot of ruby'ists will follow the project
and give useful hints.

Mikkel