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Javissimo!
Personally, I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
-- Winston Churchill
Monday, October 18, 1999
One year ago: Knock-Down
I'm annoyed by the new DHTML thing that is hanging out in the upper right corner of all the geocities web pages now. It has the effect of making IE think that the page has changed every day, so I think the journaler in question has updated when they haven't. (I still read several journals at geocities.)
I'm distressed by some of the people on a swing-dance mailing list I'm on, who see no problem with requiring that competing couples be only in the traditional male-lead, female-follow configuration. I really don't like debating or arguing about topics I care about, because I get too upset! But luckily a few local friends are doing a good job speaking the side I support. Cat Daddy Chris is the one who brought the issue up.
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Chip, our boss, suggested to me the other day that, instead of our company hiring a java programmer as another full-time employee (expensive, dilutes our ownership, we were having a hard time digging up a suitable candidate anyway), I should turn myself into such a programmer. Well! My concern with this was it could mean Chip didn't think I was doing a good job with what I was working on already, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I sounded out Ceej on the process she went through to turn herself from a tech writer into a developer, and she was very encouraging. Jack thought it was a good idea also, with some caveats. "I think you are up to it, but the real problem is that there is a huge load of domain knowledge a programmer needs to have which has nothing to do with which language you are using. Everything from Boolean set theory to Object Oriented Programming to Relational Database design to the standard data structures and algolrithms. People who learn to program without also learning these things are rarely successful. And they always produce ugly, buggy, and unmaintainable code."
So I borrowed a Java book from Chip, didn't have a chance to read it over the weekend, but said yes anyway. I spent the afternoon downloading the latest Java dev kit and docs, and started typing my way through the beginner's book that Chip had lent me. Chip was very excited when I produced my first applet, though it's an exaggeration to call it mine when all I did was retype a few lines of source code.
We'll continue using our current Java contractor, and I'll ramp up by fixing bugs and doing more limited projects. (The fixing bugs part was Ceej's recommendation.)
So now I need to find all the little things that make life easier for devs who do compiled software, just like I've already collected hints and tips and tools for writing HTML and such. I know the content developer I used to work with on the gardening CD-ROM project had some special things he used, but I don't remember what, exactly.
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I wanted to go dancing tonight, but it doesn't start until nine, and I'm already sleepy! So I'll probably go to bed early. I'm really pleased with how things are going at Epinions.com. (Have you joined yet?) I've recently written reviews about rice cookers, the kind of wok I prefer for electric stoves, and the latest CD by the Green Pajamas, dance buddy Joe Ross's band. Check it out!
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