Re: Quick questions...

In article <1130634928.559309.95490@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
<earthlinkmail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>...you experienced programmers of C; did you start with C?

FORTRAN IV with WATFOR, if I recall correctly. I learned a bunch
of things in a short time after that, so I can no longer lay out
the order. [Possibly, before the FORTRAN IV, I might have already been
exposed to some programming reference material that didn't say anything about
how to write programs and which had no examples.]

>What course
>of study did you pursue to get to where you are today?

This is a different age... the method of study I followed then would
be seriously unfashionable now. A bunch of it came down to
"Have library card; will borrow."

>Would you
>suggest starting with REALbasic first for a n00b?

No! BASIC sets too many bad habits.


>I am completely new
>to programming and using a Mac and would like some input as to where to
>begin a career in programming.

In recent years, I have run across an essay that says, in all
seriousness, that if you want a good career, then do not go into
computer science: that the field is too flooded already with
programmers who do a "good enough" job; that companies are cutting
back on in-house programming; that companies are outsourcing a
lot of programming jobs to third-world countries... and some other
reasons I do not recall.

If you are looking for a "career", then pick a field which is going to
be in big demand in the timeframe when you are going to be at your
prime -- oh, say, ecological reclamation, water purification science,
geriatic care, species extinction prevention, or pulling companies (or
countries) out of bankruptcy.


The path I followed is not one that can just be rationally "chosen".
You've heard of writers who must write, or painters who must paint...
some of us are programmers because we *must* be so.
--
Okay, buzzwords only. Two syllables, tops. -- Laurie Anderson
.

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