[Bassetlug mailing] Programming

Wed Jul 20 11:26:15 UTC 2011

...& the other one...

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Failure Notice
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2011 09:37:42 -0000
From: MAILER-DAEMON at nm2.bt.bullet.mail.ukl.yahoo.com
Sorry, we were unable to deliver your message to the following address.
Mail server for "mailman.lug.org.uk" unreachable for too long

--- Below this line is a copy of the message.
Subject: Re: [Bassetlug mailing] Programming

On 14/07/11 18:45, philip jones wrote:
> HI Danny and Richard
> Do you think there is any advantage in purchasing  Microsoft visual studio
> professional 2010.

Hello Philip,

You're asking the wrong person here as I've
spent the last two decades campaigning for
Free Software, and have never recommended
the purchase of proprietary software ;^)

> I have tried to copy a PHP programme out of book, but i
> think the book was too old and it wasn't compatible with modern browsers.

PHP generates HTML (and returns binary files, too)
for your browser - if the PHP version you code to
runs on your server, then the browser won't be the
problem...

> What I trying to do is scan documents into a mysql database and then view
> them in a web browser or something. I have used the medium blob field and
> have saved a jpg into the database using phpmyadmin but need to learn how to
> write programs so i can view upload delete the documents

... having a challenge in the form of a practical
problem that you want to solve is a great motovation
for learning - that said, if your aim is more
about the finished product than the learning process
you will find much code out there to do the job
- and you can of course read and alter the code to adapt
it to your needs :)

If it's about the learning, then I suggest you
choose the least painful platform for which you
have local support - i.e. lots of people on
hand who will answer questions :)

It doesn't matter much if you choose NodeJS,
Ruby-on-Rails, Python/Django, Smalltalk/Seaside,
Common Lisp, or even PHP or Perl, as long as
you have support to get through any roadblocks
along the way.

As to tools, forget an IDE (let alone a proprietary
one), just start with a good coding editor
that supports keyboard shortcuts - a mouse
wastes good coding time.

You may have people recommend that you
use either Emacs or Vim; beware that these
are both choices that involve you putting
work into learning the environment first -
it will pay off in the long term, but may
not be what you want to do now.
GEdit ships with Ubuntu, and is a
reasonably good fit for most cases. [1]

btw Spend a bit of time reading a good
MySQL tutorial - you'll be a lot happier
coding for databases if you're familiar
with the MySQL command line, and know
what's going on inside a SQL database.

> by the way it was an academic course on antibiotic so wasn't poorly at all !

Pleased to hear it :-)

  - Richard

[1] Yes, I know I wrote a series of articles
     on using Emacs - but I'm trying to be
     neutral and practical here ;-P

> -----Original Message-----
> From: bassetlug-bounces at mailman.lug.org.uk
> [mailto:bassetlug-bounces at mailman.lug.org.uk] On Behalf Of Danny Roberts
> Sent: 14 July 2011 13:17
> To: LUG Mailing list for Bassetlaw
> Subject: Re: [Bassetlug mailing] Programming -- was: Re: Fwd: BassetLUG
> Contact Form Submittal
>
> Hi Richard,
>
> There are indeed many suitable choices for beginners, personally I think a
> big factor over your choice of first language is always going to be the
> reason why you want to learn in the first place. For example choosing PHP as
> a first language if you eventually want to be able to program server
> daemons probably isn't a great 1st choice.
>
> Having also used C# 1st I think personally its a great general choice for a
> 1st programming language especially if theres no particular area (such as
> web/server daemons) etc that you are interested in.
>
> Also it's incorrect to say that C# is tied to one vendor and/or
> is proprietary etc as it is not. C# is actually a standards approved
> language (via the IEEE standards comitee I believe) just like C++ is. It's
> the .NET framework that is Microsoft's proprietary offering not C# itself,
> and we do have an alternative to .NET in the free software world called Mono
> (which I actually did a presentation on one evening:
> http://basset.lug.org.uk/documents/Mono_Presentation.odp).
>
> But hey I'm not saying C# is the right choice as it very well might not be.
> I'd be interested to here more of your thoughts sometime. If you could get
> down a to a LUG meeting one week that would be great.
>
> Regards
> Danny
>
> On 13 July 2011 22:18, Richard Smedley<smedley358 at btinternet.com>  wrote:
>
>> On 13/07/11 20:05, Danny Roberts wrote:
>>
>>> On 13 July 2011 19:43, philip
> jones<phil at thejones-family.co.**uk<phil at thejones-family.co.uk>>
>>>   wrote:
>>>
>>>> I would like to learn a bit of programming but need to start at the
>>>> beginning.
>>>> martin has suggested I start with c# and shape develop
>>>>
>>>
>>> C# is still a good choice but there are other options if you don't
>>> like the sound of that.
>>
>> You can learn to program by starting with almost any language
>> but some make it easier than others [0]. Personally I recommend
>> JavaScript [1] for the quickest start (a couple of lines of code,
>> and the programs run in any browser), or Scheme [2] (or Common
>> Lisp [3]) for harder work but more rewards.
>>
>> However if you're after coding something useful for either
>> the Web or the GNU/Linux platform, then one of the great
>> intros to Python [4] or Ruby [5] will get you set up for both. :)
>>
>> [0] I don't wish to start a language war - C# isn't bad,
>>     although it is tied to one vendor, known for love of
>>     patents and proprietary software :-/
>>
>> [1] Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming
>>     Marijn Haverbeke
>>     No Starch Press
>>     978-1-59327-282-1
>>
>> [2] http://www.htdp.org/
>>     is best, but if you're feeling brave, consider SICP :)
>>
>> [3] http://landoflisp.com/
>>
>> [4] http://learnpythonthehardway.**org/<http://learnpythonthehardway.org/>
>>
>> [5]
> http://mislav.uniqpath.com/**poignant-guide/book/<http://mislav.uniqpath.com
> /poignant-guide/book/>
>>
>>   - Richard
>>
>> --
>> http://teachyourkidstocode.**org/<http://teachyourkidstocode.org/>
>>
>>
>> ______________________________**_________________
>> Bassetlug mailing list
>> Bassetlug at mailman.lug.org.uk
>>
> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/**mailman/listinfo/bassetlug<https://mailman.lug.
> org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bassetlug>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Bassetlug mailing list
> Bassetlug at mailman.lug.org.uk
> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bassetlug
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bassetlug mailing list
> Bassetlug at mailman.lug.org.uk
> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bassetlug
>