On Sun, May 21, 2006 at 02:34:04PM -0700, Tracy R Reed wrote: > For those not aware, kplug-lpsg is the Linux Programmers Study Group > mailing list which is a place where we talk about general programming > issues. Any language, any project, pretty much a free for all. The list > has been fairly dormant lately but I am trying to reinvigorate it by > posting to it and spreading the word.
All right, I'll bite. (I was already subscribed anyway, but never notice which list I'm reading because all my kplug mail goes to the same folder.) > My two main programming interests are python and functional programming > in a language such as LISP/Scheme. In the python realm I am interested > in programming for Plone as well as various python-related system > administration tasks. In the functional programming realm I am > interested in experimenting with functional programming languages with > the aim of determining whether functional programming really is a > superior way of thinking about computation and a way to make reliable > code more quickly. I read _Python in a Nutshell_ from O'Reilly and I'm really quite impressed with the language. It's the only reading I've done on Python, so I don't really have any points of comparison, but I would still recommend the book, if anybody is looking for a good resource. My only real experience with python is in writting some fairly simple scripts for Weblogic's Jython administration extensions. (Basically, they just made a little toolkit library that exposed Weblogic's JMX beans so you can do some scripted setup and administration tasks.) As to LISP, I tried to start teaching myself, but I just went blind trying to understand even the code I had written myself. The amount of nesting parentheses was something I just couldn't train myself to read, no matter how many ways I tried spacing, indenting, etc. But I agree that functional programming is an interesting direction to move in. Maybe I'll check out Haskell or Erlang and see if the syntax is more digestible for me. But my current hobby is brushing up my C skills to try to get my kung-fu up to a level that I can actually start contributing to some open source project. I've gone backwards from the order most computer science majors learn languages. VB->Java->C++->C#->C What interests me about C now is the code I'm seeing where the authors are using object-oriented techniques in a language that doesn't explicitly support it. A disciplined use of function pointers and struct's, and you can have most if not all of the benefits of OO programming, but with the kind of visibility on the processing to avoid spending unnecessary horsepower when you don't need to. So I'm almost through with my brush-up on C by reading _Programming in ANSI C_ by Stephen G. Kochan. I'm not terribly impressed by the book, but it's doing its job. I don't know if I would have been more lost if I didn't already know C++. It was about 90% review for me, but it's been a couple years since I was an intermediate C++ guy, and I've gotten a little rusty. Anybody looking to learn C++, I can highly recommend _C++ Primer_ I'd like some recommendations for some reading for after I'm done with the basic ANSI C book. I'm looking at _C Interfaces and Implementations : Techniques for Creating Reusable Software_ Has anybody read it? Or any other recommendations on where to go with C after I'm covered on the basics? I'm also looking at _Expert C Programming_ Another big place where I could use some direction is in how to make the transition from being so IDE-dependent. I've probably only just now reached the break-even point with vi that I'm as fast as I would be in a do-nothing editor like notepad in windows. I'd love a book that could help me get my linux legs underneath me on just the basic stuff like getting the most out of vi, using gdb, makefiles and all the rest. I'm a .Net and java programmer for my day job, and I am not anywhere near as productive in trying to program from my ssh terminal as I am with the behemoth windows IDE's that give me context-sensitive word completion, visual step-through debugging, and all the other niceties. But I haven't found any good resources that tell me "This is how you get really productive for programming in a linux environment." I'd REALLY appreciate any pointers anyone has along those lines. Anywho.,, tata for now! Brian -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-lpsg
