Guy Lecky-Thompson's Blog
Posted by Guy Lecky-Thompson
Programming isn't hard.
It used to be - back in the days when everything was fresh and new. I'm not even talking about 50 years ago, either. I started in the 80s, and even then, there was a sense of newness about programming.
And so, there was little in the way of book-learning. That is, we read the manuals, and the programming language primers, but in the early days there were no tutorials (there was no Internet, either!), and very few of these ubiquitous 'Teach Yourself' books.
How did we learn? By example. By doing. By trying out stuff.
These days, we can put a modern spin on the basic premise. In a recent book, I introduced the concept of glue code, and was pretty impressed when IBM picked up on it. You can, if you're interested, pick up the article at the folling url: www.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/library/techarticles/0702_shields/0702_shields.html
Glue code is a great learning metholdogy, too. It will help you to learn how to program, save time, and teach valuable mashup skills.
One example area is in the use of AHK (AutoHotKey : windows-programming.suite101.com/article.cfm/autohotkey_windows_macro_scripting) and JavaScript together to provide a solution whereby Web page interaction can be automated. That's the power of mashup at work.
At some point I'll write it up, but in the meantime remember that the Internet is full of little snippets that you can use - be they tools or source code - to create your own projects. And the learning experience will be great!
Posted by Guy Lecky-Thompson
I've discovered a few things writing my recent book 'Just Enough Web Programming'. That's one of the nice side-effects of being a constant author : the research throws up some great opportunities. Face it - the more one can spin out of a single product in marketing terms, the better.
For programmers, especially, now is a very exciting time. Web 2.0 is not going away. Tag and ping, as well as blog and ping remains a good way to spike traffic. But everyone knows abotu these by now, and the search engines are starting to catch on.
To stay ahead, you need to do one of two things : work harder, or smarter. We're programmers, and so we can work smarter than any non-programmer.
Now, if you're a non-programmer reading this, then you've come to the right place. Right now, if you are marketing online, there are two powerful methods you need to know about:
And, if you don't want to create the code yourself - head on over to:
(It'll set you up for finding a whole bunch of happy coders who can help you out!)
The best thing to do, though, is learn how to do it yourself. Welcome to programming...
Guy
Posted by Guy Lecky-Thompson
December 2007 was Batch Programming Month. As such, I created a whole mini-site of articles dedicated to batch file programming using the built-in Windows command line scripting language.
Now, I've yet to group the content into a coherent web, but until I do, the whole list can be accessed at the following URL: http://command-line-programming.suite101.com/articles.cfm.
January 2008 is Web Programming Month (as I'm currently working on my new book Just Enough Web Programming), and I'm starting with JavaScript tutorials.
The first two articles are now up, and give you a sneak preview of what's to come:
As always, if there's anything else you want me to cover - just drop me a line : computerprogramming(at)suite101.com
Happy New Year!
Guy
Posted by Guy Lecky-Thompson
Every computer user has the possibility to write a sophisticated program without going any further than the tools they use on a day to day basis. More than that, the results will actually be more useful because they are integrated with those tools.
Think about it for a minute.
If you use Word or Excel, you can write macros. If you use Windows, you can create batch script to automate tasks by processing files of commands. If you are a Linux user, there is a scriptable shell interface that provides a richer version of the Windows command line equivalent. MacOS X users have the same options - there being a command line hiding underneath all the gloss of the operating system.
The kicker is - the tools that do the actual work (beyond the scripting interface) are just the regular commands and programs that you are already using! This makes for a seriously competent and under-deployed alternative to learning how to program.
The cherry on top of the cake is, that in the vast majority of cases, these scripting and batch programming tools are incredibly easy to use. Often easier than actually learning how to program with a traditional language like C.
To get started, here is a collection of links to articles right here on Suite 101:
Windows Command Line Programming
Windows Macro Scripting with AutoHotKey
Have fun!
Posted by Guy Lecky-Thompson
It can't be back to school time already. And yet it is - that's what my publisher keeps on telling me, anyway.
A tip for would be computer book authors : if you want to sell books, sell them to schools and colleges. The web, glorious though it might be in many respects, has reduced the computer book market so much that the educational market has become my bread and butter. Almost.
Those of you who have been listening to the BBC World Service's Digital Planet (bbcnews.com/digitalplanet) may have heard them talking about Open Office a couple of weeks ago.
I got annoyed with what they said, and wrote to them, along with thousands of others.
You see, Microsoft has released a copy of Office to developing markets which is based on rental, rather than purchase.
My point to them - for 95% of users, Open Office and MS Office are equivalent. The other 5% can afford the full MS license even in developing markets.
Therefore, what Microsoft should be doing is renting on the basis of features, and not packages.
The moral of the story - if you can get by without the corporate level features, open source packages, and in particular Open Office, offer the best balance between price and quality. If you need corporate features, such as programmable databases (Access), and a robust integrated macro programming language (VBA), then you need MS Office.
Finally, this weeks little project is to learn about neurons and neural networks. I'm researching them for one of my aforementioned books, so I thought I'd share a little of my new found knowledge with you.
The article is Neural Network Model Algorithm and is online now. Enjoy.
