Proleps

Java is still used in a lot of companies. I'm from the Netherlands and a lot of the jobs here are Java or C# jobs(I think this is probably the same in Italy). I think this is a good enough reason to learn the language.

It may be slower than C++ , but it is a lot faster than python, ruby or Javascript. Another reason to learn Java is that it is used for Android development.

The current JEE(Servlets and jsp) version is a lot better than the old one(J2EE). You no longer have to configure lots of very big XML files.

As a dynamic language you should probably learn Javascript first because it is used on the client side of web applications and some mobile platforms are moving to Javascript.

> On the other hand, if I'm hiring someone for a high pressure job I don't want them to fail when under pressure.

Programming is not like in those hacker movies, we don't have to solve problems in 60 seconds while getting a blow job[1].

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUY8HysBzsE

My problem is that I don't have any problems. All the software I need is already available in most Linux distributions. The only software I pay for is Games and Windows(which I need to play games).

Some parts of Chromium lack a free license[1], but is is a lot more free than Chrome.

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_%28web_browser%29#Lice...

I use Firefox because it is free software. It feels more honest than Chrome, IE or Opera.

I think most companies actually need more generalists (especially for web and mobile). Lots of companies switch between different technology stacks every couple of years. Sometimes you don't even have choice e.g., when a new phone OS becomes popular.

This is different when you are looking for someone to work on one task for a short while. But if you are looking for long term employees you should look for people who are good at adapting to new technologies and have good basic programming skills.

I don't think the original author means you should hire people without any related knowledge. But if a company is looking for a JEE programmer they could probably hire a programmer with another background as well.

Hire real criminals to threaten the patent trolls?

A sudoku solver, implement some basic data structures(linked list, vector, binary tree), replicate some basic unix programs like ls and cat.

Does it need saving? I don't really care if it dies.

I have currently installed Adblock Plus, Flashblock and Ghostery. I was one of the last people in my friend group to use such stuff, but the full screen adds, adds with sound and especially the spying made me use this. If ads where only a bunch of banners I would never have installed all of this stuff.

Brilliant comment below the article: http://allthingsd.com/20130107/hi-im-from-the-government-and...

Competition is always good. But I guess some people prefer the dictatorship of a monopoly.

Even if I made a function copy(char to[], char from[], int lenTo, int lenFrom) it would still be incorrect using his reasoning because most of the possible inputs would still cause the software to crash. I could symply add a wrong lenTo and lenFrom.

I don't like the idea of AI and a computer in everything I own. Who stores/owns all that information? It also seems like a completely unnecessary security risk(people spying on you by hacking into your fridge :P).

The solution is a lot simpler, don't make me use a computer for everything. I can open my car with my key, Pay using money(or even a bank or credit card).

Twitter in you're car and Apps on the fridge only exist because of the App hype. I don't think they will last.

They also have no reason to act snobbish. Reasons 2 and 3 are very important to a lot of developers.

I don't think choosing a faster language is premature optimization. Java might be a bit more difficult to program in, but the performance is a lot better. Java is also easier to program in than c++. I think that is a good trade off. I'm not saying you should not use ruby, but not even considering something else seems stupid.

A lot of developers still develop software for Windows and telling them to install some UNIX variant instead of choosing a programming language just seems stupid. Not all of us are developing web applications. But even if we are there are lots of programming languages that work properly in both Windows and UNIX environments that offer the same advantages as ruby, Python or Groovy for example.

I sometimes feel like the world is moving away from the FSF principals more then it is moving towards it. Nobody seems to be in control of their own devices, software and data anymore.

Data is stored in the cloud, applications are remotely removed from you're IPhone, you have to log in to play offline games, phones send all sorts off personal data to third parties.

This is all happening in a time where free software is easy to get and hard drives are cheap enough to store all the data you want :(.

This is a actually a great, succinct review of jonny_eh's short review. Short, compact and does a nice job explaining the components that will make the review helpful to readers.

Won't windows 8 become one of those crappy windows versions nobody will use like Vista. I think most people will keep using windows 7 until windows 9 comes out.

Don't have anything against driving people to Linux though :P. This can be a nice moment to show the downsides of closed software to normal people. I already know a couple of non-technical people who run an Ubuntu version(they are semi-advanced computer users who find this kind of thing fun however), so it might be possible.

Now we just have to hope games will be ported to Linux, games are the only reason I still have a Windows partition.

If you're product can be easily cloned but makes a lot of money without any effort, it is a good idea to keep it a secret as long as possible. This way it will take longer for other people to clone it and you will have easy money.

The part that you should keep a secret is that you're idea actually makes money, not the technical part.

When you are a programmer you always want to improve things. I have little python scripts for common tasks everywhere.

One of the things I have never tried to improve is my email. I check my personal email once a day, and almost never in the weekends. When I see a long email that takes a long time to make a point, I stop reading and go to the next. Some people don't really like it when I do this, but it keeps me sane.

The one time I tried to check my email more often and respond more often the amount of email I got exploded and I decided to stop.

Yesterday I had a discussion with someone about answering email. In which I said "Ten years ago a lot of people didn't even have an email address or a mobile phone and a lot of people didn't want one. Everything went fine without it". Sometimes I make myself feel old :P.

I sometimes think the world would be a better place without email and mobile phones, life would be a lot more relaxed. The only way to deal with them is to not use them as much as possible.

That article was kind of serious. He still writes articles in his old school style http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=onions

Is it possible to own the copyright of a photograph of a city? You own none of the buildings in the photo.

If they ask you for the password you could give them the one that erases all data :P.

I find it weird that people are arguing that the title isn't part of the original article. As far as I'm concerned "Please Don't Learn to Code" is his opening argument.

I hate getting email as well, but I also hate getting text messages.

Most people I know think modern communication is holy and you should check you're email and text messages multiple times a day and always answer as soon as possible.

I check my email personal email once a day (often don't read any email in the weekend) and this sometimes pisses people off. It sometimes feels like I should constantly be on my guard because people have send me something important (which it almost never is).

I would love it if we could go back to the time when you could only answer the phone when you are at home. Or the time when it was acceptable to wait two days to reply to email.

But i guess this is a bit of topic because the original message was talking about the technical part of email :P

I guess part of the problem is how women are presented in the tech industry. Whenever you see women on a tech event they tend to be booth babes, or they have been send to the event to attract men.

I was at a career event last week. None of the women representing a company could give a clear story of what the company does from day to day. They where just there to be pretty.

If we want to stop sexism we have to stop this, but i don't think this will happen any time soon.

I never thought about this before. But it seems like there are very different expectations for PC developers and smart phone developers. Companies developing software for a PC would never consider sending personal data to their servers.

Maybe its because mobile developers mostly come from web development where it is normal for the server to store such data. For a lot of web applications (web-mail, Facebook) it is part of the service.

It is possible to get everywhere using public transport in the Netherlands, but the time difference is huge. If I use public transport to get to my girlfriends parents house it takes 60 to 90 minutes, if I go by car it takes 30 to 40 minutes.

I agree that a save-first, spend later mentality is better. If you have a save-first, spend later mentality, everything you buy will be cheaper. If you don't have that mentality, the bank gets money for almost every luxury product you buy.

But I don't think it is just the fault of the banks. I think the biggest problem is that people don't realize how much borrowing money really costs. They don't add up the total interest they will have pay over their loan, they just look if they can afford the monthly payment. If you don't borrow money you are able to buy a better tv, a better car or more luxury goods in general.

Today you can download python, run the installer and you get IDLE, and you can start doing some tutorials right away.

You can also download .NET and get started right away. I'm sure there are a lot more examples. It has never been easier to start learning how to program.