The totally off-topic thread

[JohnK]

Equalled my best score in Thailand today. Oh for a few putts....

 

[Cossie]

Almost a cult. Term borrowed from religious circles. The Java evangelist was essentially early adopters who had a following who spruiked Java until apparently it's use became widespread.

I can program the Foxtel box. Beyond that zip...
Though I did write a program once
10 Print "Hello world"
20 Goto 10

I remember doing something very similar in REXX, glad those are well and truly behind me!

 

[anat0l]

Almost a cult. Term borrowed from religious circles. The Java evangelist was essentially early adopters who had a following who spruiked Java until apparently it's use became widespread.

I remember reading about Java the first time in PC Magazine. I'm thinking, what's this whole coffee thing I keep seeing all around. Then of course, applets, NetBeans (freaking mess that was) and so on came along...

One thing that keeps freaking me out is that I'm learning to program in Python after starting with Java. It's like wearing a perfectly pressed white shirt with tie and slacks every day for 30 years of your life, and now suddenly you're wearing a polo and jeans. I'm not used to weak (or duck) typing, the lack of markers (either punctuation or keywords) to show the code blocks, and I'm generally finding it hard to become "Pythonic" (as I'm finding out as I'm learning to create classes).

I can program the Foxtel box. Beyond that zip...

You were a legend in my munchkin years if you knew how to program a VCR. That must be up your alley.

Though I did write a program once
10 Print "Hello world"
20 Goto 10

goto... *shudder*

 

[love_the_life]

I remember teaching Pascal and Turbo Pascal
Then we modernised to VB

 

[TheRealTMA]

goto... *shudder*

Not really. It's just throwing an exception.

 

[serfty]

...
In any case, as they say, a good programmer should be able to write good programs irrespective of the code language. ...

Sure ... In my current roll I have to deal with Openedge(nee progress), REXX, Powershell, COBOL, Perl, java, C(and its variants), vbs/cscript and various other VB type scripting; none of which I was formally trained in.

My tertiary education was Pascal & FORTRAN, neither of which I have used professionally.

 

[anat0l]

Sure ... In my current roll I have to deal with Openedge(nee progress), REXX, Powershell, COBOL, Perl, java, C(and its variants), vbs/cscript and various other basic type scripting; none of which I was formally trained in.

My tertiary education was Pascal & FORTRAN, neither of which I have used professionally.

Thank goodness for most online documentation and forums (e.g. StackExchange) these days!

That's a mess of languages to deal with...

 

[Bindibuys]

Does anyone else simply have difficulty with the ENGLISH language? let alone what is being discussed up thread.

 

[oz_mark]

Sure ... In my current roll I have to deal with Openedge(nee progress), REXX, Powershell, COBOL, Perl, java, C(and its variants), vbs/cscript and various other basic type scripting; none of which I was formally trained in.

My tertiary education was Pascal & FORTRAN, neither of which I have used professionally.

You've got the languages, now get some frameworks going, and framework on frameworks....


[On the language front, I had to write a whole lot of integration code in Groovy last year....]

 

[serfty]

Thank goodness for most online documentation and forums (e.g. StackExchange) these days!
...

oh, yes ...

A professional IT dude needs to be proficient in Google these days - its in how to word a query for an efficient and effective search.

 

[Flying mermaid]

If you didn't start with FORTRAN or B, or assembler in 65/8**, you don't actually count.

I started with Fortran and assembler - coding was done on punch cards and you waited a week to get your test printout. I could read paper tapes and dumps. Showing my age here

 

[amaroo]

Maybe cove, but I'm keen to give it crack and see

Don't listen to them Rugby. I did it at the age of 42 - love it! 7 years down the track I've got involved in a few ventures that has me busy for around 4-5 months of the year. It's a good mix - highly recommended!

 

[TheRealTMA]

You've got the languages, now get some frameworks going, and framework on frameworks....


[On the language front, I had to write a whole lot of integration code in Groovy last year....]

Ah, one has to be Pragmatic these days.

 

[TheRealTMA]

I started with Fortran and assembler - coding was done on punch cards and you waited a week to get your test printout. I could read paper tapes and dumps. Showing my age here

Data General Nova, PDP-8. Bootstrap in octal switches.... Sigh...

 

[rainbowgirl]

Does anyone else simply have difficulty with the ENGLISH language? let alone what is being discussed up thread.

Unfortunately I can recognise all of the computer languages mentioned, I just don't know much about them and I'm happy for it to stay that way.

 

[drron]

Well once I could say via Air Mail in ~ 50 languages.
And knew every stop of the TPOs in NSW.

 

[Quickstatus]

Does anyone else simply have difficulty with the ENGLISH language? let alone what is being discussed up thread.

Apparently!. The government will fix it!!

 

[Quickstatus]

You were a legend in my munchkin years if you knew how to program a VCR. That must be up your alley.

Not only VCR but Betamax as well

 

[VPS]

For this castle, I'd recommend getting the return boat cruise on Lock Ness with 1 hr stop over.

Some seem to get very carried away with whinges about too many tourists when they are in fact part of the problem. These days such sites are very popular. SIL. You pays your money and does a tour or pay an entrance fee or don't see it. That's the reality. I have no problem with paying for these things since someone has to contribute to the upkeep. (However I tend to balk at paying for access to churches in Italy!)

It's one of the reasons we joined the Scottish National Trust actually.

ps: Popular culture says Scots are skinflints as well.

View attachment 100782

I joined the SA National Trust with a NRMA discount code and that's accepted everywhere

 

[VPS]

Freaked out a bit yesterday when dummy bookings for a B&B for April/Scotland were booked out! Wasnt going to make bookings this soon but for some, it seems I need to.

Now you're scaring me - I'm going in September and haven't booked a thing and don't want to - may have to reconsider