Friday, August 24, 2012

Book Review: Think Like a Programmer

Author: V Anton Spraul
Format: Paperback, 256 pages
Publisher: No Starch Press (August 8, 2012)
ISBN-10: 1593274246
ISBN-13: 978-1593274245

I'll give No Starch and Amazon the benefit of the doubt and say that any understanding about the intent, purpose, and function of the book are mine. Spraul's Think Like a Programmer really wasn't quite what I thought it would be.

Let me explain.

One of the issues with learning how to program, as the author rightly states, "isn't learning a language's syntax—it's learning to creatively solve problems so you can build something great." More to the point for me, it's learning the thought process that's used by the programmer. What makes it easy for one person to pick up a book on a language such as JavaScript or, for the sake of this book, C++ and start useful programming in a relatively short period of time, while another person who seems equally intelligent always gets stuck at a particular point in the learning process?

Besides the willingness to practice and sometimes be virtually obsessed with programming, it's the ability to conceptualize the idea of programming, and probably the world in general, in a very specific way. I think this is what makes some people great artists while others can barely doodle. Your brain is just "wired" to program (or draw or doodle). However, that doesn't mean people who don't consider the process of programming (as opposed to the process of learning and using a specific language) intuitive can't learn to program, at least to a degree. It just means that the non-intuitive "programmer" needs to learn to think in a particular way by training and practice rather than just "getting it" naturally.

I mentioned before that some people are just intuitively artistic, but I also learned many years ago from Dan O'Neill and The Big Yellow Drawing Book, that anyone can be taught to draw. It doesn't mean anyone can be turned into a Picasso, but they can learn to be reasonably competent, as long as they follow a certain order of steps and practice regularly. That's how I imagined Spraul's book would present learning to think like a programmer.

O'Neill's book doesn't assume anything except that the person using it can see six inches in front of them and hold a pencil. Alas, Spraul's book is based on the assumption that the reader has some programming experience and specifically with C++. Since Spraul is advertised as having "taught introductory programming and computer science for more than 15 years," it seemed reasonable to assume that the book was a very beginning programming book or better yet, a "pre-programming" book where the reader is taught to think like a programmer and to learn introductory programming simultaneously.

That's my fault, I suppose. In order to even use the book to its fullest extent, you have to have some basic knowledge in compiled programming languages in general and C++ in specific (I know just enough JavaScript and Python to get my face slapped, as the saying goes..I don't know from C++ from jack). Before that, you have to know set up a compiler so you can even run your code (assuming you know how to code anything in C++). So if (like me) you thought Spraul's book would be a beginner's book on coding and thinking like a coder...oops.

Now for the good news. The book will probably hone your programming problem solving skills or even help you hone your puzzle solving skills...but again, if you are a C++ newbie, you will probably be out of luck. OK, I know that writing a book that is language agnostic or without referencing a programming language at all is probably impossible. You can't teach the thought process behind programming in isolation from doing actual programming. But (and I'm sure Spraul would disagree with me on this, but I'm the newbie here) there were two errors (in my humble opinion as the reviewer) made before the writing of this book ever started. The first was the choice of programming language and the second was requiring that the reader have prior knowledge of that language. Something like JavaScript or Python would have been a better choice (for all I know, Spraul is more comfortable teaching C++ but who knows?). They require virtually no set up on a computer and are considered more "beginning" programming languages. Also (again, in my opinion), it wouldn't be quite so challenging for a total newbie who also isn't an "intuitive programmer" to pick up either language for the sake of learning problem solving.

Beyond that, teaching problem solving isn't exactly the same as teaching a thought process. How do programmers think differently than non-programmers? Can the difference be taught to non-programmers who want to learn to program (if not for money, then for fun)? With all due respect to Spraul, who I'm sure is a cracker jack teacher, programmer, and a wonderful human being, I don't think this book teaches that to the non-programmer audience. The "disconnect" may be between the process of teaching programming in the classroom, where the student has plenty of support, including any introductory technical set up required for the language being used, and picking up a book and teaching yourself not only programming, but "how to think like a programmer."

The "dream book" for non-programmer newbies to learn to successfully program has yet to be written.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Codecademy Revisited

I recently received an email notice in my inbox "Announcing Python at Codecademy". Well, it's about time. I reviewed codecademy's learn to program tutorial about a year ago (featuring JavaScript), but the lessons ended and there was no place to go, so I stopped visiting their site.

A year passed and I pretty much forgot about Codecademy until I received their email. Curious, I decided to browse the site.

The home page looked the same as I remembered it. "Learn to code". "Get Started (it's free)". I clicked the big, green button and the page dimmed except for the field with the active cursor and the prompt to type in your name with "quotes" around it. I was taken through the beginning of the JavaScript module, the "teaser" for the course, by putting in my name, finding out its length, and doing some elementary math computations. Once I got through the intro, I was prompted to start the next section.

What I was trying to find out is if the JavaScript tutorial had gotten past "while loops". It was difficult to tell what the whole JavaScript course consisted of since each lesson forces you to go step-by-step rather than skipping ahead. As far as I could tell, the JavaScript tutorial had been significantly re-worked and ended on variables after about five sessions.

I wasn't interested in going through the JavaScript tutorial at that point and clicked the "Learn" button at the top of the page. What I found was that after a year, Codecademy has a lot more to offer:

  • JavaScript Fundamentals
  • Python
  • Web Fundamentals
  • JQuery
  • Code Year

It didn't look like the different offerings were necessarily interdependent, but you could go through the JavaScript Fundamentals course and then hit Web Fundamentals to learn HTML and CSS, progress through JQuery as your JavaScript library, and then conclude with Code Year to learn how to build websites with JavaScript. I know Python doesn't seem to fit the path, but it is (or seems to be) the newest module as it's "beta" tag discloses.

It will take a little time go to through a significant portion of the tutorials in order to learn enough to update my original review, but I did want to let anyone reading this know that Codecademy is back on my radar after a year.

I'll post subsequent blogs and let you know what I think about the details.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Guide to TCP/IP, Fourth Edition

Well, look what I found the other day.

I was the "junior" person on the team that collaborated to make this edition of the classic Guide to TCP/IP possible. Ed Tittel has been with this book since the beginning and Jeff Carrell is the unsurpassed wizard of all things networking. I was lucky to even be able to contribute to this book in some small way and to work with these fine people (I haven't forgotten that Laura Chappell's name is on the cover, but truth be told, she hasn't contributed a single word to this book since the first edition).

Because this is a text book, the publisher usually wants to give "cover credit" only to people who are well-known in the field. My name only comes after a "with" on the cover (and no mention in the author's section for the book in Amazon), but it's still a feather in my cap to have my name see the light of day at all. I'm very appreciative of the authors and editors involved for allowing this kudo to go to me.

I'm really excited to see this book being published next month and I believe it represents one of my best efforts in recent years. To find out more and to order the book, go to Amazon.com (clickable link).