Re: Becoming a "Super User" (was Re: Teach files to AppleWorks Gs)

[nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates)]

In article <Pine.PMDF.3.91.961203205323.871576D-100000@OBERLIN.EDU>,
Toby Reiter  <str4552@OBERLIN.EDU> wrote:
>Not really.  You can give me the clearest information in the world about 
>the two formats, but unless you handed me the code, I doubt I could 
>create a workable program.

   If you currently realize that you can't program, you can do one of
two things about it: (1) figure that learning to program would be too
much trouble or (2) figure that you *want* to learn. In the first case,
just be quiet and let others program for you. In the second, if you want
to learn, you'll go out and learn, rather than waiting some magical
"how to program" 10-line FAQ to drop into your lap.

   I just checked out http://www.oberlin.edu-- the school your email
address implies you attend happens to have a Computer Science
department. It should have some classes on programming. You'll
probably learn much more from a class than any 'programming FAQ'. I'd
recommend a class over any written document for beginners simply
because you can ask the questions you have to a TA, the prof, or a
classmate. FAQs are far more impersonal.

   Programming is also something of a mindset. How I program can be
summed up real quickly: "What is the end result of this program? Ok,
how do I get there?" Those two lead to enough other questions to fill
in the code. There's also a corrolary: "the computer is real dumb, but
it's always right. Bad code is 100% your fault."

   I TA'd introductory computer science at Caltech, where a fair
number of *non* programmers were taking it. Several students had major
problems with the concept of sequential code execution and other
stuff; of course their programs didn't run. They could verbally explain
what a few lines of code should do, but couldn't tell that the lines of
code they wrote didn't do what they had just said.


> If 
>there was some source I knew of that could be an intermediate step 
>between me and my power supply (such as "Get this book on general 
>wiring/soldering, read it, then try this.")  

   Uhh, that book is right next to the book for "how to fly an
airplane without getting in one" or "read this book, get your first
driver's license." A very small percentage can read a book and learn
things fine from it. Far more need practice from a human
instructor. Take an Electrical Engineering or Physics Lab intro course
at your university for the hands-on, practical experience in doing
something. Or, find a friend with a soldering iron and ask him for a
few lessons in using it. 

   If you don't know what to do next to expand your knowledge, then
you're either overwhelmed by options (which I don't think is the
case), or you just don't know what to ask/research/etc. I recommend
figuring out *what* you want to know more about, then you can start
asking the right questions.

   There are a set of general newbie questions that everyone wants to
know (downloading, etc), but knowledge *expands*. The more specific
you get, the more questions it prompts on more and more things. Thus,
an "intermediate level" FAQ would probably be 10x larger than a newbie
FAQ, and an encyclopedia-sized document would cover most of what an
expert could know about Apple IIs. Part of being the expert is knowing
where to look when you don't know offhand.

   My suggestion if you want to know more: read everything you can get
your hands on. If you feel it's too dry, skim over it to see what the
heck it contains, so you can come back to it later when you know it
has a specific answer to a specific problem. Just like in real life,
where Frosh chemistry has everything you'd want to know handed to you
on a silver platter, but by the PhD level, you have to do real
research, think a lot, collect info, take good notes, and spend a lot
of time at it. 

Nathan Mates

--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/      <*>
# What are the facts? Again and again and again-- what are the _facts_?
# Shun wishful thinking, avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors
# think-- what are the facts, and to how many decimal places?  -R.A. Heinlein