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Computers
A Diamond in the Rough, or was it a Ruby on Rails
Jun 5th
I have made my decision from when I asked the question in Thursday’s post: I will try to learn as much as I can about Ruby and C++ over the next two months.
After watching and following along with this video about the amazing power of Ruby on Rails (“Rails” for short), I realized how similar Rails and CakePHP are: the frameworks are identical in every way; only the languages differ. In other words, I only have to learn the (seemingly simple) Ruby language before I can start using Rails like a pro.
Learning C++ would give me a jumpstart into many of the other languages I would like to learn (like Cocoa and Android) since they are based on the concepts of C++. I also have the opportunity to learn this language from its inventor, Bjarne Stroustrup: I will be following the guidelines set forth in his book, Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++. C++ will also be the primary language that I will use during my college education. I have studied C++ in the past for Robotics, but I do not know enough to make an application for a computer… yet.
Since Ruby and C++ should be fairly easy to learn, I might have enough time to start learning one more language this summer. I’m still open for suggestions, so please let me know what you think.
Language Learning Time!
Jun 3rd
Now that summer has arrived and I am no longer burdened by assignments and homework, I would like to expand my programming horizons by learning some new languages.
I try to learn at least one new language/framework each summer. Last summer, I learned how to use CakePHP (PHP), jQuery (JavaScript), Prototype (JavaScript), and CSS3. I attempted to learn JSP with much frustration due to its complexity. However, I would be willing to try again.
As I’ve learned more about CakePHP, I have come to love the MVC setup, which makes Ruby on Rails look very appealing. That also means that I will have to learn Ruby. Being a web developer, the server-side languages seem more useful, but I would also like to be able to make desktop applications that can be compiled to run on any machine. I have also made the commitment to make at least one mobile app that interfaces with an online database by the end of this year.
I have more languages that I would like to learn more about, but I don’t know where to start. This is where you (the reader) can help. Out of the following languages, which would be the best, easiest, or most useful to know?
- Python
- Ruby
- Ruby on Rails (by extension of Ruby)MVC
- JSP
- Bash scripting
- C++ (which I will learn in College anyway, but would like to get a head start)
- Cocoa (Mac OS X; based on Objective-C)MVC
- Cocoa Touch (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad by extension of Cocoa)MVC
- Android (by extension of C++)
You are welcome to suggest other languages or frameworks. Please comment below to cast your vote. I will post the results later.
Safari 4 Released
Jul 12th
I never thought I’d see the day that I would blog about an Apple product… I just took a good look at the newly released Safari 4, and I must say that it looks… impressive to say the least.
Before I get into further details, let me first say that the Safari 4 interface looks strikingly familiar. As a web developer, I have to make sure that my websites look the same across all web browsers. That means that I have most of the browsers in the world on my computer: Mozilla Firefox (my favorite), Flock, Orca, Opera, Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer (why Is that piece of junk called a web browser anyway?), Konqueror, Epiphany, and so on… Now I’ll get to the point: Safari is basically Google Chrome under a different name. Chrome introduced the minimalistic user interface (back and forward buttons on the right side, an address/search bar in thr middle, and only two menus–”Page” and “Settings”–on the left. The rest of the screen was devoted to displaying web page content. Apple’s Safari 4 looks identical to Chrome except the search bar is a separate text field in Safari. The only thing that Apple did to make it different was throw in a couple of glitzy effects: Chrome’s “Most visited sites” page has been given a 3D effect and has been renamed to “top sites”. I must admit that the bookmark management is better in Safari than in Chrome, but I’m just mad that Apple had to steal another idea and call it their own. Don’t even get me started on the fact that Apple stole Compiz from Linux…
On a more positive note, Apple’s new release of Safari 4 has full support for many new and exciting (for developers like me) web features like JavaScript, CSS 3, HTML 5, etc. In fact, Safari scores a perfect ’100′ on the Acid3 Test, and it is the first web browser to do so. However, Apple proudly boasts that Safari is the “World’s Fastest Web Browser,” but I still have yet to see their speed stats hold true on any machine: Gmail runs faster on Chrome and Firefox than Safari; Safari takes the longest to load on my machine at (28 seconds–22 more than Firefox); and Safari takes up the most RAM of all browsers on my computer.
Safari has jumped from it’s position next to Internet Explorer up next to Chrome on my browser ranking scale, but it still has to get through Opera and Flock before it has even a remote chance of replacing Firefox as my favorite browser. If Safari were truly as fast as Apple says it is, did not take up so much RAM, and had a huge database of add-ons that enable you to do anything, then it might have a shot at being my favorite.