G'day reprobates..
I just had a question asked of me..
I want to learn "insert language here", how do I go about it...
After some thought, perhaps my method for picking up a new language might help
someone.. so I detail
it here.. (Well, not so much detail as ramble pretty aimlessly)
Pick a task you *have* to do.. something you are not going to be able to just
push aside or drop
into the "Too hard basket".
If that task is a greenfield task.. and has no prior ground work, you need to
tell yourself "I need
to do this task in X".. otherwise you will just fall back to your standard
tried and tested toolbox
(Pascal or Bash for me).
If it's already started in the language of your choice.. (Like Linux kernel or
wine for me) then
it's easy.. as you *have* to use that language to make it happen.
In my case I wanted to learn Python.. and I use irc a bit, so I picked an irc
client that had python
bindings (the other choices being perl and tcl - retch) and decided I needed to
write a stack of
addons/scripts and other goodies.. Once a task has been set that you can't
wriggle out of easily,
you then *have* to persevere until it works..
I had resolved to rewrite my home entertainment system in python as a way to
learn it.. funny, it's
still cobbled together with bash and dialog.. because I did not *have* to do
it.. I could just keep
extending the mess of bash that is already there..
Anyway.. I thought I'd just post a bit of ramble as there is bugger all else
happening on this list
anymore.. if it get's much deader in here we are going to need the crash cart.
B
--
"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability
to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable
for their apparent disinclination to do so." -- Douglas Adams
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