Wednesday, July 29, 2015

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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16 comments:

  1. Things that size?!? ...they scare me, to be honest. NeVeR nEvEr wanna drive one...

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Shadow!!! It all comes down to getting used to something, and I came to be more concerned while driving/riding in a regular vehicle than I was in a big truck because of how much better one can see what is going on around them from higher off of the ground. Not long after we were married, Arlynda drove through a fairly significant sandstorm between Salt Lake City and the Bonneville Salt Flats in western Utah, and I have no doubts about her evidently being able to get her own commercial driver's licence before my rapidly deteriorating general health changed any plans for this.

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  2. Once it was relatively easy, now i wouldn't have a clue but if i wanted to learn i would work it out.
    I'm waiting for Windows 10, then i will get a new laptop but not in a great hurry...
    Good luck and don't give up..

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Whiteangel!!! According to what I have read from several different sources, more modern coding languages are much easier to work with now than what was available just 3-4 years ago. If you think you might be interested in working with me on this project, please email me at FishHawk7@gmail.com.

      In regards to Windows 10, we will wait at least a month before switching in the hope of many of the bugs being already fixed (or at least there being a way to easily fix them). All programs that now work with Windows 7 -8.1 is supposed to work with 10. So, there should not be much, but there seems to always be something that should have been obvious that is not seen until after the wide release.

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  3. All this sounds just too complicated.
    Fourteen year old neds would find such activity easy, which is why they get good jobs hacking for folks like the FBI.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Adullamite!!! I can always count on you to make feel better about things.

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  4. MEGO: my eyes glaze over, when I try something like that. You are a better man than I, Gunga Din. (I am female, so liberties taken.)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Susan!!! Whoa, maybe it is just that my eyes are glazing over instead of becoming weaker?

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  5. I was terrible at math in school and code is beyond me. If I need help in the area I call my son.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Stephen!!! With all that I have heard about algorithms being at the heart of search engines and other examples computer programming/coding, I also thought there was a lot of complex math involved, but what I am trying to learn involves virtually no math. Although, I can see where a lot of math is involved with writing machine code where everything is broken down to simple 1s and 0s.

      As it turns out, an algorithm is actually just a set of variables leading to a solution. A recipe for a food dish is an algorithm of sorts. So, is a mixture of different color pigments to reach a certain shade. When developing a web application, code is used as directions for a browser to follow.

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  6. you could have written this in a foreign language and I would have understood it just as well. When it comes to programming and code I'm clueless.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Ann!!! Since you know a whole lot about really using Photoshop Elements, I think you could learn to code if you ever took a notion to. By the way, Lynda.com has several extensive courses on Photoshop and other associated programs.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Lee!!! That is my reaction much of the time.

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  8. OMG I hardly understand any of this. I panic when I realise how stupid I am about coding or even using plain old simple html instead of whatever nonsense Blogger creates out of its flaky insides.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Jenny!!! Methinks you would have a really good time being in my head and experiencing me freaking out over nothings if the time comes to deploy the new site for public consumption.

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Since the Blogger spam filter has been found sorely lacking lately, I will start moderating comments. Be assured that I am only interested in deleting spam. So, if you feel a need to take me to task over something—even anonymously, go ahead and let 'er rip, and I will publish it as soon as I can.