Lynda's Lads

As indicated in [Spilling Some Beans], I have been having a lot of “fun” trying to learn how to write the code needed to develop a new website and the corresponding web application, which will undoubtedly lead to all participating members becoming filthy rich.  Well, maybe not if the likes of [Kevin Skoglund] have very much to do with it.

A good example of the “fun” I have been having is Master Skoglund writing code in one place and then cutting and pasting it somewhere else in the same file—sometimes IMMEDIATELY after the initial placement.  I do not understand why, but that always proves to be a big problem for me.  For after duplicating his steps EXACTLY, all sorts of errors crop-up for me.  Whereas, there are no errors when I simply rewrite the moved code instead of cutting and pasting it.

Simply?  Yeah, that’s a laugh—especially when my eyesight is more blurry than usual.  For the code in question is sometimes well over a thirty characters in length, with such trivial things as there being a difference between parentheses (()), square/box brackets ([]) and curly braces ({}) being a very big deal when it comes to writing code.

Would you like to know just how many hours I have wasted trying to fix what was evidently broken about the pasted code before I finally gave up and started rewriting the code to begin with?  Sorry, it is too depressing to think about.

Yes, I would think that the problem may have something to do with spacing, but that is supposed to not matter between PHP tags (<?php……….?>).  Besides, the majority of those wasted hours were spent on adding a space here and taking away one there.  [Insert double-sigh and a groan here.]

Ah, but you do not know the half of it yet.  For Master Skoglund almost always shows how to do everything the hard way BEFORE getting to a much easier way.

Please allow me to give you an example of that regarding a subject I am intimately familiar with that someone without any knowledge of would ask me to teach them about, which would be driving a big truck.  Since driving a big truck involves getting it to move, being able to place it into the proper gear is a necessity.  So, I start the student out with a basic four-speed transmission and then move on to a duplex, which is essentially two four-speeds in tandem, while keeping the triplex (three four-speeds) to the last but not least part of this stage of their instruction.  I next move them on to nine and ten-speeds, which is a basic five-speed with a low/high splitter for the rear differential.  There is also a 15-speed (with and without a deep reduction) related to the nine and ten-speeds.  Next up is a 13-speed, which has a low/high splitter for each separate gear in the high range.  An 18-speed has a low/high splitter for each separate gear in both ranges.  After all that, I come to the fact that modern advances have allowed for automatic transmissions tough enough to handle the great weights hauled by big trucks, which makes it unnecessary for a driver to master shifting manual transmissions.

In all fairness, Master Skoglund may be a member of an ancient coding society that requires all instructors to have their students spend a certain number of wasted hours in pursuit of nothing but frustration before they are allowed to learn the secret answer that is at the heart of his style of instruction.  On the other hand, he may be just a prime example for why I.T. experts are usually the most beloved people in a business setting.

The real reason for Master Skoglund’s teaching style may be much simpler…and sinister.  For if he makes coding magic too easy for us mundanes to understand, there would no longer be such a need for his (and others like him) wizardry—would there?

In any event, here I sit nervously awaiting the arrival of Windows 10.  If all goes as it should, installing the new operating system will allow me to use Laravel and quickly get to where I want to go.  Yeah, like that is likely to happen.  Sigh.  

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[Arlynda Lea]

[FishHawk Droppings]

[The Tribulation Times Herald-Exhorter]