Programming

this is programming

I'm a career programmer, been paid to do this for just short of 30 year, but as a hobby I started around 1980 with older Sinclair DIY kits building the hardware and then learning Z80 and the BASIC that came with the ROM. Worked through C64's with their weird 6502 mush and then started getting paid to work in C on several systems, mostly real-mode operating systems like DOS, but also things like CCP/M, MU-CCP/M, UNIX. Stuffed around with a bunch of frameworks in that whole muddy 90's landscape of fragmented API, crap like MFC, OWL, poor quality third party binaries, DLL hell. Putting up with Windows growing up and the pains of consulting with the MSDN.

Started specialising in a few areas, like medical imaging, DSP, government work. Over the last 10 years I've built software for delivering drugs for Oncology departments, wrote firearm (long and handgun) identification software for the Federal Police and developed a complete ERP system for a major worldwide Mattress company (I've always said that software development gets you into bizarre places sometimes). I'm currently writing PCI-DSS compliant software for the largest bulk billing company in Australia. We deal with encryption, credit card storage, merchant banks, trading, all sorts. A real mix of technologies like Java and C, but we do a lot of Python (for the sheer love and beauty of the language) and maintain a large PHP codebase. There's a lot of database too. Things like MS-SQL, Oracle, a growing number of MySQL servers and some really old Pervasive/BTrieve servers.

Probably my proudest programming moment was single-handedly driving, planning, consulting and developing a criminal interstate cross-checking application used in Canberra. Reduced criminal background checks from 3 weeks to 4 days. The pat on the back from that job felt good...

  On 8/19/2014 at 5:15 PM, Centurix said:

Reduced criminal background checks from 3 weeks to 4 days. The pat on the back from that job felt good...

Snitches get stitches mate. Enjoy it while you can

On the run in the sun.

  On 8/19/2014 at 5:15 PM, Centurix said:

I'm a career programmer, been paid to do this for just short of 30 year, but as a hobby I started around 1980 with older Sinclair DIY kits building the hardware and then learning Z80 and the BASIC that came with the ROM. Worked through C64's with their weird 6502 mush and then started getting paid to work in C on several systems, mostly real-mode operating systems like DOS, but also things like CCP/M, MU-CCP/M, UNIX. Stuffed around with a bunch of frameworks in that whole muddy 90's landscape of fragmented API, crap like MFC, OWL, poor quality third party binaries, DLL hell. Putting up with Windows growing up and the pains of consulting with the MSDN.

 

Started specialising in a few areas, like medical imaging, DSP, government work. Over the last 10 years I've built software for delivering drugs for Oncology departments, wrote firearm (long and handgun) identification software for the Federal Police and developed a complete ERP system for a major worldwide Mattress company (I've always said that software development gets you into bizarre places sometimes). I'm currently writing PCI-DSS compliant software for the largest bulk billing company in Australia. We deal with encryption, credit card storage, merchant banks, trading, all sorts. A real mix of technologies like Java and C, but we do a lot of Python (for the sheer love and beauty of the language) and maintain a large PHP codebase. There's a lot of database too. Things like MS-SQL, Oracle, a growing number of MySQL servers and some really old Pervasive/BTrieve servers.

 

Probably my proudest programming moment was single-handedly driving, planning, consulting and developing a criminal interstate cross-checking application used in Canberra. Reduced criminal background checks from 3 weeks to 4 days. The pat on the back from that job felt good...

really impressive!

i have recently started with python (total n00b in programming) but i'm so impatient. i want to know everything TODAY! that's the artistic side of me that's trying to dictate the tempo.

i started with python cause before that i started with supercollider and then i thought i'd be much more useful if i first learn things about programming in general with python cause i have other plans too like programming interactive applications for my job + other things, not just sound design.

can you plz give me an advice how to speed up things or how to be more patient? i'm dying here! phenx!

p.s. i know i'm asking impossible but if you have anything to say that you think it could be useful for me plz do, if not it's also good.

Ludum Dare (48/72 hour video game competition/jam) this weekend if anyones got the balls.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/

Also, xox, build actual things. Don't read books. You will learn fuck tons quickly.

  On 8/19/2014 at 7:01 PM, acid1 said:

Also, xox, build actual things. Don't read books. You will learn fuck tons quickly.

You should totally read books. Good books that also include excercises and things to build. Like the almighty K&R

So yeah, build things, but read books too

  On 8/19/2014 at 7:01 PM, acid1 said:

Ludum Dare (48/72 hour video game competition/jam) this weekend if anyones got the balls.

 

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/

Also, xox, build actual things. Don't read books. You will learn fuck tons quickly.

  On 8/19/2014 at 7:49 PM, ThatSpanishGuy said:

 

  On 8/19/2014 at 7:01 PM, acid1 said:

Also, xox, build actual things. Don't read books. You will learn fuck tons quickly.

 

You should totally read books. Good books that also include excercises and things to build. Like the almighty K&R

 

So yeah, build things, but read books too

 

that's exactly how confusion works.

lol yeah

i've bought several books and all i have to do now is to read them and work on included exercises, yes. ok. tbh. imo. cnn. bbc.

well, i know i asked a stupid question...so. thnx anyway. as you were!

The best way to learn a new tool is to write your next project using it. One way I've used to force myself to learn is to pick some random program and rewrite a version of it for yourself. Try to make 80% of it work as a bare minimum (I've learnt a couple of frameworks by re-writing Minesweeper). Use books and sites as a reference but just dive in and make mistakes. Don't worry if what you're doing is right or wrong, don't worry about other peoples conventions, just make it work. By the time it's working, you'll have a greater understanding of the tool to allow yourself to apply method and technique.

When you start out programming you tend to get attached to a tool like a language and there tends to be no divide between tool and method. Some tools introduce features that help, like a lot of modern frameworks will do some of the heavy lifting and provide libraries for things that were traditionally hand built in the past (I haven't had to code a linked list for years, and Python spoils you for choice).

Tools change over time, frameworks and languages are constantly moving. However, technique and method rarely change. I love design patterns and anti-patterns in both technology and process, they tend to be more than just rules but more of a lifestyle in some cases. One book I recommend at least owning a copy of is the Art of Programming by Donald Knuth, another is Algorithms in C by Sedgewick. They focus on method and technique with the understanding that the tools may change but the fundamentals stay the same.

Python is a great language to learn because almost everything is within easy reach. You want to open a file, do DB operations, make a game (pygame is fun to work with) then it's all there. One other great thing about Python is that you can achieve a great deal with very little code, plus it remains readable.

Also, tabs>spaces and vertical space preservation is king. YMMV.

thnx man!

  On 8/20/2014 at 3:04 AM, Centurix said:

One book I recommend at least owning a copy of is the Art of Programming by Donald Knuth

is this the book, in 4 volumes? http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Programming-Volumes-1-4A-Boxed/dp/0321751043

also, i'm pretty weak in math (i went to medical school). what do you think about this book? i guess i'll need it to understand the algorithm book http://www.amazon.com/Concrete-Mathematics-Foundation-Computer-Science/dp/0201558025/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=1-1&keywords=concrete+math

I see math as a gateway to another aspect of programming. It's a system that allows you to step back from a problem and analyse it with a multitude of rules. Saying that, a programming career certainly doesn't require math of any great level to enjoy the work. If anything, start with Discrete Math, something which is very relevant to the field.

understood. thnx centurix

You gotta know some maths to do video game programming, but not a whole lot beyond grade school stuff.

You can get by rotating an object without really understanding what a Quaternion or Euler is.

Yeah. I think programming is more about "logical" thinking rather than mathematical, though they are kinda the same.

I did Ludum Dare 30 this weekend and wrote a SHMUP with worlds connected.

Its a space shooter and I named it "%20 Shooter" Get it? :D

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=35743

Web player here: http://www.johnmullins.info/games/ld30.html

Time lapse of me making it:

[youtubehd]jcL2OvVGIsQ[/youtubehd]

With unity?

Yeah it was Unity. I was considering Swift, but given the amount of people that could play my game, I went with Unity.

Knuth is massive overkill for people not into CS. That said I do own TAOCP I'm working on a general purpose music lib in Haskell @ https://github.com/basdirks/Synthesis/tree/master/src/Sound/Synthesis

Open to contributions/suggestions.

  On 8/25/2014 at 11:03 PM, acid1 said:

Yeah it was Unity. I was considering Swift, but given the amount of people that could play my game, I went with Unity.

Yo dude help (again)... Really, really I want to try my luck with this kind of stuff. I know programming, though not on a deep level, but understand the concepts. I would like to make a simple game like those you create... BUUUT I always get distracted with other stuff I would like to do, including: the art, the music, the writing, etc... I guess you have experience on it... Help me, can I do it all? I know it sounds a bit stupid but I really want to have control over everything in my creations. Suggestions?

logakght, not sure what you are asking but you can defintely do it all yourself with total control. Unity has lots of stuff already made for you (like physics engines) but nothing dictates you have to use them. That competition I did, requires you to do all the assets (art, music, writing) yourself.

I think with games its super important to start as easy as you can. Like pong, and work your way up. I tend to not finish projects that I start that are too overly ambitious.

Go ahead and download Unity Free and follow this tutorial: http://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/projects/roll-a-ball . It should only take you an hour tops and you will have a legit game by the end of it. It exposes you to a ton of topics about game dev.

  On 8/26/2014 at 1:41 AM, acid1 said:

Go ahead and download Unity Free and follow this tutorial: http://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/projects/roll-a-ball . It should only take you an hour tops and you will have a legit game by the end of it. It exposes you to a ton of topics about game dev.

Thanks for this, I'll definitely be giving it a try when I get a few spare evenings soon.

Funny thing, I was at a family wedding last week, and I met a cousin of mine who I hadn't seen in about 25 years. We got chatting, turns out he's into game development in his off-hours, and has been doing his own small-scale 2D RPG for the last year or so... we were talking about it for ages, and he really inspired me to get back on the horse.

I'd love to try my hand at low-res 3D environment stuff, am a complete beginner but why not, eh? Can anyone recommend any recent sites or books that would be a good place to start?

  On 8/26/2014 at 11:45 AM, jasondonervan said:

 

  On 8/26/2014 at 1:41 AM, acid1 said:

Go ahead and download Unity Free and follow this tutorial: http://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/projects/roll-a-ball . It should only take you an hour tops and you will have a legit game by the end of it. It exposes you to a ton of topics about game dev.

Thanks for this, I'll definitely be giving it a try when I get a few spare evenings soon.

 

Funny thing, I was at a family wedding last week, and I met a cousin of mine who I hadn't seen in about 25 years. We got chatting, turns out he's into game development in his off-hours, and has been doing his own small-scale 2D RPG for the last year or so... we were talking about it for ages, and he really inspired me to get back on the horse.

 

I'd love to try my hand at low-res 3D environment stuff, am a complete beginner but why not, eh? Can anyone recommend any recent sites or books that would be a good place to start?

Arnold C: https://github.com/lhartikk/ArnoldC

Arnold-Schwarzenegger-Oriented Programming

IT'S SHOWTIME

TALK TO THE HAND "hello world"
YOU HAVE BEEN TERMINATED