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Groups > comp.lang.python > #65964 > unrolled thread

Python programming

Started byngangsia akumbo <ngangsia@gmail.com>
First post2014-02-11 16:21 -0800
Last post2014-03-06 14:52 +0000
Articles 20 on this page of 45 — 22 participants

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Contents

  Python programming ngangsia akumbo <ngangsia@gmail.com> - 2014-02-11 16:21 -0800
    Re: Python programming Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-02-12 12:17 +1100
    Re: Python programming Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2014-02-11 21:06 -0500
    Re: Python programming Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-02-11 18:46 -0800
    Re: Python programming Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-02-11 22:02 -0500
      Re: Python programming Gene Heskett <gheskett@wdtv.com> - 2014-02-11 23:14 -0500
      Re: Python programming Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-02-12 13:41 +0000
      Re: Python programming Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2014-02-12 21:00 -0500
        Re: Python programming Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2014-02-13 02:57 +0000
          Re: Python programming Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-02-12 22:04 -0500
            Re: Python programming Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-02-13 14:13 +1100
              Re: Python programming Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2014-02-13 15:13 +0000
            Re: Python programming William Ray Wing <wrw@mac.com> - 2014-02-12 22:56 -0500
              Re: Python programming Dan Sommers <dan@tombstonezero.net> - 2014-02-13 05:18 +0000
            Re: Python programming Larry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com> - 2014-02-13 03:30 -0500
              Re: Python programming John Ladasky <john_ladasky@sbcglobal.net> - 2014-03-07 10:03 -0800
                Re: Python programming Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2014-03-07 19:38 -0500
                  Re: Python programming John Ladasky <john_ladasky@sbcglobal.net> - 2014-03-08 14:06 -0800
                Re: Python programming William Ray Wing <wrw@mac.com> - 2014-03-07 21:46 -0500
            Re: Python programming albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl (Albert van der Horst) - 2014-03-06 02:51 +0000
              Re: Python programming Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2014-03-06 19:25 -0500
                Re: Python programming Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-03-06 20:24 -0500
                  Re: Python programming William Ray Wing <wrw@mac.com> - 2014-03-06 21:27 -0500
                    Re: Python programming Larry Hudson <orgnut@yahoo.com> - 2014-03-06 23:56 -0800
                    Re: Python programming Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2014-03-07 17:00 +0000
                      Re: Python programming Gene Heskett <gheskett@wdtv.com> - 2014-03-07 12:49 -0500
    Re: Python programming Asdrúbal Iván Suárez <asdrubalivan.listas@gmail.com> - 2014-02-11 20:01 -0430
    Re: Python programming Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2014-02-12 15:09 +1100
    Re: Python programming Larry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com> - 2014-02-12 08:55 -0500
      Re: Python programming Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-02-12 09:13 -0500
        Re: Python programming Larry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com> - 2014-02-12 11:43 -0500
        Re: Python programming Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2014-02-12 21:13 -0500
    Re: Python programming Tim Delaney <timothy.c.delaney@gmail.com> - 2014-02-13 08:02 +1100
    Re: Python programming Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-02-13 08:34 +1100
    Re: Python programming Tim Delaney <timothy.c.delaney@gmail.com> - 2014-02-13 09:57 +1100
    Re: Python programming Neil Cerutti <neilc@norwich.edu> - 2014-02-13 15:30 +0000
      Re: Python programming ngangsia akumbo <ngangsia@gmail.com> - 2014-02-14 12:29 -0800
      Re: Python programming 88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@gmail.com> - 2014-03-05 20:05 -0800
    Re: Python programming Beowulf <offroad.adventures.engr@gmail.com> - 2014-03-05 20:19 -0800
      Re: Python programming Dan Sommers <dan@tombstonezero.net> - 2014-03-06 04:43 +0000
        Re: Python programming Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-03-05 23:51 -0500
          Re: Python programming Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2014-03-06 14:49 +0000
      Re: Python programming Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-06 06:17 +0000
        Re: Python programming Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2014-03-06 07:09 -0600
          Re: Python programming Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2014-03-06 14:52 +0000

Page 2 of 3 — ← Prev page 1 [2] 3  Next page →


#67967

FromDennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com>
Date2014-03-06 19:25 -0500
Message-ID<mailman.7884.1394151937.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#67912
On 06 Mar 2014 02:51:54 GMT, albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl (Albert van der
Horst) declaimed the following:

>In article <roy-A94C1B.22041912022014@news.panix.com>,
>Roy Smith  <roy@panix.com> wrote:
>>In article <ldhcau$d9v$1@reader1.panix.com>,
>> Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2014-02-13, Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> >    An S-100 wire-wrap board.
>>>
>>> Yup, been there done that!
>>
>>Never did S-100, but I did do a custom Unibus card (wirewrap).
>>
>>You know you're working with a Real Computer (tm) when the +5V power
>>supply can deliver as much current as an arc welder.
>
>I've a 64 node Parsytec transputer system in the hall way with
>dual 5V 100A power supplies. Does that count?

	I spotted a device on the table of the company calibration office...

	As I recall, it was a 100A capable resistor... 0.10 OHM.

	No idea what it was meant for; big binding posts at one end, and a slab
of sheet steel in a "W" shape (smooth curves, not sharp bends).
-- 
	Wulfraed                 Dennis Lee Bieber         AF6VN
    wlfraed@ix.netcom.com    HTTP://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/

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#67970

FromRoy Smith <roy@panix.com>
Date2014-03-06 20:24 -0500
Message-ID<roy-81D4FE.20242106032014@news.panix.com>
In reply to#67967
In article <mailman.7884.1394151937.18130.python-list@python.org>,
 Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> On 06 Mar 2014 02:51:54 GMT, albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl (Albert van der
> Horst) declaimed the following:
> 
> >In article <roy-A94C1B.22041912022014@news.panix.com>,
> >Roy Smith  <roy@panix.com> wrote:
> >>In article <ldhcau$d9v$1@reader1.panix.com>,
> >> Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> >>
> >>> On 2014-02-13, Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> >    An S-100 wire-wrap board.
> >>>
> >>> Yup, been there done that!
> >>
> >>Never did S-100, but I did do a custom Unibus card (wirewrap).
> >>
> >>You know you're working with a Real Computer (tm) when the +5V power
> >>supply can deliver as much current as an arc welder.
> >
> >I've a 64 node Parsytec transputer system in the hall way with
> >dual 5V 100A power supplies. Does that count?
> 
> 	I spotted a device on the table of the company calibration office...
> 
> 	As I recall, it was a 100A capable resistor... 0.10 OHM.
> 
> 	No idea what it was meant for; big binding posts at one end, and a slab
> of sheet steel in a "W" shape (smooth curves, not sharp bends).

External shunt for an ammeter?

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#67978

FromWilliam Ray Wing <wrw@mac.com>
Date2014-03-06 21:27 -0500
Message-ID<mailman.7888.1394161816.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#67970
On Mar 6, 2014, at 8:24 PM, Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> wrote:

> In article <mailman.7884.1394151937.18130.python-list@python.org>,
> Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> 
>> On 06 Mar 2014 02:51:54 GMT, albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl (Albert van der
>> Horst) declaimed the following:
>> 
>>> In article <roy-A94C1B.22041912022014@news.panix.com>,
>>> Roy Smith  <roy@panix.com> wrote:
>>>> In article <ldhcau$d9v$1@reader1.panix.com>,
>>>> Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> On 2014-02-13, Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>>   An S-100 wire-wrap board.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Yup, been there done that!
>>>> 
>>>> Never did S-100, but I did do a custom Unibus card (wirewrap).
>>>> 
>>>> You know you're working with a Real Computer (tm) when the +5V power
>>>> supply can deliver as much current as an arc welder.
>>> 
>>> I've a 64 node Parsytec transputer system in the hall way with
>>> dual 5V 100A power supplies. Does that count?
>> 
>> 	I spotted a device on the table of the company calibration office...
>> 
>> 	As I recall, it was a 100A capable resistor... 0.10 OHM.
>> 
>> 	No idea what it was meant for; big binding posts at one end, and a slab
>> of sheet steel in a "W" shape (smooth curves, not sharp bends).
> 
> External shunt for an ammeter?
>  

More likely a dummy load for power supply testing.  (Normally, ammeter shunts are sized to dissipate as little power as possible.)

-Bill

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#67981

FromLarry Hudson <orgnut@yahoo.com>
Date2014-03-06 23:56 -0800
Message-ID<pdOdnQ8qQLUH5oTOnZ2dnUVZ_tmdnZ2d@giganews.com>
In reply to#67978
<snip>

>>> 	I spotted a device on the table of the company calibration office...
>>>
>>> 	As I recall, it was a 100A capable resistor... 0.10 OHM.
>>>
>>> 	No idea what it was meant for; big binding posts at one end, and a slab
>>> of sheet steel in a "W" shape (smooth curves, not sharp bends).
>>
>> External shunt for an ammeter?
>>
>
> More likely a dummy load for power supply testing.  (Normally, ammeter shunts are sized to dissipate as little power as possible.)
>
> -Bill
>

Another (OT) story...

I used to work in an electronic calibration lab, but I don't recall having a resistor of that 
description -- however, it reminds me of another story...

While our job was calibrating and maintaining our company's electronics, we occasionally had to 
do some incoming inspection work -- checking incoming components for accuracy.  This particular 
time I had a batch of 0.1 ohm 1% resistors (I think those were the numbers, at least something 
on that order).  I found by checking them right at the body of the resistors they were 
out-of-spec low, and checking at the end of the leads they were out-of-spec high.  Fun!   :-)

To measure them, I used the lab's Current Calibrator -- a special power supply whose voltage was 
controlled to give a constant (dialed-in) current.  Then with a DVM and mini-hooks I could 
attach these DVM leads anyplace along the resistor's leads.  At 1 amp, the voltage (read on the 
DVM) was equal to the resistance.  Ohm's law, of course:  R = E/I, where I is a constant 1.  And 
1 amp was well within the power specs of these resistors.

I ended up checking them at a distance of about a quarter inch from the body, because I expected 
that would be about the way they would be eventually mounted.  They all passed that way.  And 
fortunately I never had another batch of these resistors!   :-)

      -=- Larry -=-

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#67999

FromGrant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid>
Date2014-03-07 17:00 +0000
Message-ID<lfcu01$872$1@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#67978
On 2014-03-07, William Ray Wing <wrw@mac.com> wrote:
> On Mar 6, 2014, at 8:24 PM, Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> wrote:

>>> I spotted a device on the table of the company calibration office...
>>> 
>>> As I recall, it was a 100A capable resistor... 0.10 OHM.
>>> 
>>> No idea what it was meant for; big binding posts at one end, and a
>>> slab of sheet steel in a "W" shape (smooth curves, not sharp bends).
>> 
>> External shunt for an ammeter?
>>  
>
> More likely a dummy load for power supply testing.

Could be.  Back when I was working on PWM controllers for golf cart
and small car motors, we used to use steel coathangers for test loads,
but once they got past orange and more towards yellow, they started to
get too soft.  An appropriately dimensioned chunk of sheet steel would
have been ideal.

> (Normally, ammeter shunts are sized to dissipate as little power as
> possible.)

I've used chunks of coathanger for that too, but I don't think the
resistance was stable enough over temperature to trust the results at
higher currents.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! If elected, Zippy
                                  at               pledges to each and every
                              gmail.com            American a 55-year-old
                                                   houseboy ...

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#68001

FromGene Heskett <gheskett@wdtv.com>
Date2014-03-07 12:49 -0500
Message-ID<mailman.7902.1394216141.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#67999
On Friday 07 March 2014 12:29:38 Grant Edwards did opine:

> On 2014-03-07, William Ray Wing <wrw@mac.com> wrote:
> > On Mar 6, 2014, at 8:24 PM, Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> wrote:
> >>> I spotted a device on the table of the company calibration office...
> >>> 
> >>> As I recall, it was a 100A capable resistor... 0.10 OHM.
> >>> 
> >>> No idea what it was meant for; big binding posts at one end, and a
> >>> slab of sheet steel in a "W" shape (smooth curves, not sharp bends).
> >> 
> >> External shunt for an ammeter?
> > 
> > More likely a dummy load for power supply testing.
> 
> Could be.  Back when I was working on PWM controllers for golf cart
> and small car motors, we used to use steel coathangers for test loads,
> but once they got past orange and more towards yellow, they started to
> get too soft.  An appropriately dimensioned chunk of sheet steel would
> have been ideal.
> 
> > (Normally, ammeter shunts are sized to dissipate as little power as
> > possible.)
> 
> I've used chunks of coathanger for that too, but I don't think the
> resistance was stable enough over temperature to trust the results at
> higher currents.

This is really really offtopic but since its turned into war stories,
I recall one time that I needed to test a 5v 200amp supply that there were 
2 of in an old NEC Digital Video Effects unit,  I looked up the R per 1000' 
of standard romex in the various gauges & went over the Lowes and bought a 
100' roll of of 10/2.  Soldered the inside end together after striping and 
twisting it together,  It worked well, but the PSU didn't.  Made by HP back 
when they _thought_ they knew about how to build cement block sized power 
supplies. The psu went into foldback at about 20 amps.  All the bugs were 
good, nothing running warm.  Analyzing backwards in view of the curie point 
on some ferrite's being below the boiling point of water, I finally came to 
the conclusion that the ferrite in the output transformer had gone 
austenitic, eg totally non-magnetic, like it was just so much air, which is 
what many of those compounds will do if magnetized near saturation when 
they hit the curie point, and will never recover from.  HP of course didn't 
have the transformer or a replacement supply, but I found some Pioneer's 
with a suitable rating at M.P.Jones in FL and broke their hands putting a 
check for 2 of them in them, shipped yesterday.  That was in about 1997 & 
they were still in service when we turned analog tv off June 30, 2008. 

Cheers, Gene
-- 
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>

NOTICE: Will pay 100 USD for an HP-4815A defective but
complete probe assembly.

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#65988

FromAsdrúbal Iván Suárez <asdrubalivan.listas@gmail.com>
Date2014-02-11 20:01 -0430
Message-ID<mailman.6720.1392175801.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#65964

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

Hello! Well, I got the knowledge at college, it took me a year to know the
basics (But I guess it can take less if you work hard on it). I began with
C, then C++ and right now I'm with Python (I use PHP too). That said, there
are some interesting resources out there that you can use to learn.
Codeacademy is a very good one[1]. Best of luck with your endeavor :)


[1] http://www.codecademy.com



2014-02-11 19:51 GMT-04:30 ngangsia akumbo <ngangsia@gmail.com>:

> Please i have a silly question to ask.
>
> How long did it take you to learn how to write programs?
>
> What is the best way i can master thinker?
> I know the syntax but using it to write a program is a problem
> --
> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
>

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#65992

FromBen Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au>
Date2014-02-12 15:09 +1100
Message-ID<mailman.6724.1392178204.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#65964
ngangsia akumbo <ngangsia@gmail.com> writes:

> Please i have a silly question to ask.
>
> How long did it take you to learn how to write programs?

Please clarify what you mean by “how to write programs”. I could write
programs perhaps ten minutes after beginning to learn; but learning how
to write programs *well* is a learning journey which continues thirty
years later.

So, what are you asking? What level of skill do you want to attain, how
would you describe the goal?

-- 
 \          “In general my children refuse to eat anything that hasn't |
  `\                              danced on television.” —Erma Bombeck |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney

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#66035

FromLarry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com>
Date2014-02-12 08:55 -0500
Message-ID<mailman.6757.1392213333.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#65964
On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 7:21 PM, ngangsia akumbo <ngangsia@gmail.com> wrote:
> Please i have a silly question to ask.
>
> How long did it take you to learn how to write programs?

My entire life.

I started in 1975 when I was 16 - taught myself BASIC and wrote a very
crude downhill skiing game. I had dial in access to the mainframe at a
local college (my HS math teacher got that for me). I could only
access it off hours, so I wrote my program to yellow paper tape then
uploaded it over a 110 baud connection. Then taught myself FORTRAN,
then went to college at Rochester Institute of Technology majoring in
Computer Engineering. First class was Pascal, then FORTRAN, which I
tested out of. Then IBM 360 assembly language, then C. After college I
taught myself SQL, shell programming, perl, C++, python, and PHP. And
in just the last 2 years javascript, jQuery, HTML, and CSS. It never
stops.

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#66039

FromRoy Smith <roy@panix.com>
Date2014-02-12 09:13 -0500
Message-ID<roy-DCEF48.09135212022014@news.panix.com>
In reply to#66035
In article <mailman.6757.1392213333.18130.python-list@python.org>,
 Larry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 7:21 PM, ngangsia akumbo <ngangsia@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Please i have a silly question to ask.
> >
> > How long did it take you to learn how to write programs?
> 
> My entire life.
> 
> I started in 1975 when I was 16 - taught myself BASIC and wrote a very
> crude downhill skiing game. I had dial in access to the mainframe at a
> local college (my HS math teacher got that for me).

Wow, sounds exactly like my experience.  Probably one of these:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_2000

Lunar lander.  Hunt the wumpus.  Space War.

Actually, before I was allowed to get access to that, I got some time on 
one of these:

http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/hp9810a.html

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#66055

FromLarry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com>
Date2014-02-12 11:43 -0500
Message-ID<mailman.6764.1392223396.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#66039
On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 9:13 AM, Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> wrote:
> In article <mailman.6757.1392213333.18130.python-list@python.org>,
>  Larry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 7:21 PM, ngangsia akumbo <ngangsia@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Please i have a silly question to ask.
>> >
>> > How long did it take you to learn how to write programs?
>>
>> My entire life.
>>
>> I started in 1975 when I was 16 - taught myself BASIC and wrote a very
>> crude downhill skiing game. I had dial in access to the mainframe at a
>> local college (my HS math teacher got that for me).
>
> Wow, sounds exactly like my experience.  Probably one of these:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_2000

I think it was a Xerox Sigma:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDS_Sigma_series

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#66138

FromDennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com>
Date2014-02-12 21:13 -0500
Message-ID<mailman.6816.1392257642.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#66039
On Wed, 12 Feb 2014 11:43:09 -0500, Larry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com>
declaimed the following:

>
>I think it was a Xerox Sigma:
>

	WHERE?!!!

	The only places I know of that had Sigma's were NASA, Missile Systems
Division of Lockheed Missiles & Space (Sunnyvale, 1981 -- they were
drafting a set of requirements to replace the Sigma. I looked at those
requirement and concluded there was only one viable alternative -- a
Honeywell DPS-8 running CP/6; the requirements specified the CP/V
In/Out/Update/Scratch file modes, and I've never seen any other system that
had Update/Scratch*... Also specified the equivalent of consecutive, keyed,
and random file organization), McDonnell-Douglas "McAuto", and... Wayne
State, Hope College, and Grand Valley (all three in Michigan... GV was
mine)


*	For the bystanders: Update and Scratch maintained separate read/write
file positions. An Update file required one to read one or more records
before writing, the write position trailed the read position. Scratch was
the opposite; one wrote data and then could read it back later -- the write
position had to be ahead of the read position.

	Oh,  consecutive was equivalent to a UNIX stream file; no structure.
Keyed was ISAM (and even the text editor used this -- the line numbers were
ISAM keys). Random... Was a preallocated /contiguous/ block of disk -- the
OS did nothing for structure.
-- 
	Wulfraed                 Dennis Lee Bieber         AF6VN
    wlfraed@ix.netcom.com    HTTP://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/

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#66085

FromTim Delaney <timothy.c.delaney@gmail.com>
Date2014-02-13 08:02 +1100
Message-ID<mailman.6783.1392238971.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#65964

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

On 13 February 2014 00:55, Larry Martell <larry.martell@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 7:21 PM, ngangsia akumbo <ngangsia@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Please i have a silly question to ask.
> >
> > How long did it take you to learn how to write programs?
>
> My entire life.
>
> I started in 1975 when I was 16 - taught myself BASIC and wrote a very
> crude downhill skiing game.


OK - it's degenerated into one of these threads - I'm going to participate.

I received a copy of "The Beginners Computer Handbook: Understanding &
programming the micro" (Judy Tatchell and Bill Bennet, edited by Lisa Watts
- ISBN 0860206947) for Christmas of 1985 (I think - I would have been 11
years old). As you may be able to tell from that detail, I have it sitting
in front of me right now - other books have come and gone, but I've kept
that one with me. It appears to have been published elsewhere under a
slightly different name with a very different (and much more boring) cover
- I can't find any links to my edition.

My school had a couple of Apple IIe and IIc machines, so I started by
entering the programs in the book. Then I started modifying them. Then I
started writing my own programs from scratch.

A couple of years later my dad had been asked to teach a programming class
and was trying to teach himself Pascal. We had a Mac 512K he was using.
He'd been struggling with it for a few months and getting nowhere. One
weekend I picked up his Pascal manual + a 68K assembler Mac ROM guide,
combined the two and by the end of the weekend had a semi-working graphical
paint program.

A few years after that I went to university (comp sci); blitzed my
computer-related classes; scraped by in my non-computer-related classes;
did some programming work along the way; was recommended to a job by a
lecturer half-way through my third year of uni; spent the next 4 years
working while (slowly) finishing my degree; eventually found my way into an
organisation which treated software development as a discipline and a
craft, stayed there for 10 years learning how to be more than just a
programmer; came out the other end a senior developer/technical lead and
effective communicator.

And that's how I learned to program.

Tim Delaney

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#66094

FromChris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
Date2014-02-13 08:34 +1100
Message-ID<mailman.6791.1392240850.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#65964
On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 8:02 AM, Tim Delaney
<timothy.c.delaney@gmail.com> wrote:
> I received a copy of "The Beginners Computer Handbook: Understanding &
> programming the micro" (Judy Tatchell and Bill Bennet, edited by Lisa Watts
> - ISBN 0860206947) for Christmas of 1985 (I think - I would have been 11
> years old). As you may be able to tell from that detail, I have it sitting
> in front of me right now - other books have come and gone, but I've kept
> that one with me. It appears to have been published elsewhere under a
> slightly different name with a very different (and much more boring) cover -
> I can't find any links to my edition.

Heh. I wonder if I could still find back the copy of "Bible BASIC"
that I learned from.

And yes, I learned BASIC first. Moved on from there to 8086 assembly
language, using DEBUG.EXE as my assembler, and proceeded through a
variety of setups with crazy restrictions on them. Let's see... I
wrote non-TSR interrupt handlers that executed a subprocess and
cleaned up when that process finished; used BASIC with CALL ABSOLUTE
to handle a mouse pointer; got onto OS/2 but didn't have a C compiler,
ergo wrote OS/2 code in Pascal; wanted to write a device driver but
lacked both C compiler and assembler, ergo wrote a two-pass assembler
in REXX that piped everything through DEBUG.EXE running in a virtual
86 session; couldn't get hold of a copy of the no-longer-supported
VX-REXX, and so wielded a demo version with a weird system of creating
executables... you know, getting onto a Linux system with a real
toolchain was quite the luxury. (Okay, okay, I did have some slightly
more normal experiences in amongst the weird ones. But it sounds more
insane to pretend that the above was how _all_ my programming went.)

ChrisA

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#66112

FromTim Delaney <timothy.c.delaney@gmail.com>
Date2014-02-13 09:57 +1100
Message-ID<mailman.6802.1392245867.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#65964

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

On 13 February 2014 08:02, Tim Delaney <timothy.c.delaney@gmail.com> wrote:

> I received a copy of "The Beginners Computer Handbook: Understanding &
> programming the micro" (Judy Tatchell and Bill Bennet, edited by Lisa Watts
> - ISBN 0860206947)
>

I should have noted that the examples were all BASIC (with details for how
to modify for various BASIC implementations on various platforms).

Tim Delaney

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#66186

FromNeil Cerutti <neilc@norwich.edu>
Date2014-02-13 15:30 +0000
Message-ID<mailman.6844.1392305455.18130.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#65964
On 2014-02-12, Tim Delaney <timothy.c.delaney@gmail.com> wrote:
> OK - it's degenerated into one of these threads - I'm going to
> participate.

Me, too!

I wrote lots of programs, strictly for fun, on every personal
computer I got my hands on. Toward the end of the 80's personal
computer's stopped coming equipped with programming environments,
and I stopped programming.

I eventually learned  some computing theory in college where they
taught C and the rudiments of C++.

Thanks to the open-source movement we've returned to the days
when anybody can program for zero cash. You can program well
enough to amuse yourself with very little effort indeed.

To get from there to being able to write programs to do useful
things for yourself is a lot harder, but this is the niche that
Python fills excellent well. If this is what you want to do,
Python is a good way to go.

That's still just the beginning, but it's a pretty good place.

-- 
Neil Cerutti

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#66323

Fromngangsia akumbo <ngangsia@gmail.com>
Date2014-02-14 12:29 -0800
Message-ID<6cfc8a2a-8c9f-45de-b39a-41142ab57eea@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#66186
wow wow

Thanks for the contutions

Thanks guys, 
many more are welcome

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#67919

From88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@gmail.com>
Date2014-03-05 20:05 -0800
Message-ID<bcf71212-77b9-403b-b3de-ba2172c621be@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#66186
On Thursday, February 13, 2014 11:30:27 PM UTC+8, Neil Cerutti wrote:
> On 2014-02-12, Tim Delaney <timothy.c.delaney@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > OK - it's degenerated into one of these threads - I'm going to
> 
> > participate.
> 
> 
> 
> Me, too!
> 
> 
> 
> I wrote lots of programs, strictly for fun, on every personal
> 
> computer I got my hands on. Toward the end of the 80's personal
> 
> computer's stopped coming equipped with programming environments,
> 
> and I stopped programming.
> 
> 
> 
> I eventually learned  some computing theory in college where they
> 
> taught C and the rudiments of C++.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks to the open-source movement we've returned to the days
> 
> when anybody can program for zero cash. You can program well
> 
> enough to amuse yourself with very little effort indeed.
> 
> 
> 
> To get from there to being able to write programs to do useful
> 
> things for yourself is a lot harder, but this is the niche that
> 
> Python fills excellent well. If this is what you want to do,
> 
> Python is a good way to go.
> 
> 
> 
> That's still just the beginning, but it's a pretty good place.
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Neil Cerutti

I wrote programs for viewing gif, pcx,
bmp, and jpg images in 1991 to 1992.

Also I was planning to write an 
Lotus123 clone at the time, but 
I was too lazy to chunk out that
project in 1993.

 

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#67921

FromBeowulf <offroad.adventures.engr@gmail.com>
Date2014-03-05 20:19 -0800
Message-ID<98df529b-afe3-4f96-92ff-ff6e936d3dda@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#65964
Once you master one language it is easy to understand other.  I mastered C in my younger years, writing signal handlers and thread on Solaris and AIX.

It it not the syntax, that comes easy, it is building the correct algorithm that matters.

The best way to learn is make some thing useful that you need.  I would suggest project with Raspberry Pi to learn python.

On Tuesday, February 11, 2014 4:21:29 PM UTC-8, ngangsia akumbo wrote:
> Please i have a silly question to ask.
> 
> 
> 
> How long did it take you to learn how to write programs?
> 
> 
> 
> What is the best way i can master thinker?
> 
> I know the syntax but using it to write a program is a problem

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#67922

FromDan Sommers <dan@tombstonezero.net>
Date2014-03-06 04:43 +0000
Message-ID<lf8udn$eag$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#67921
On Wed, 05 Mar 2014 20:19:56 -0800, Beowulf wrote:

> Once you master one language it is easy to understand other ...

Once you master one language, the next one is hard.  After that, they
get easier.

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