Think I ought to go find a new hole to live in! I read "all" the posts on this both D and D.gnu newsgroups, but feel so out of place, cause I can't understand in excess of 90% of them.  Any idea where I could find place that caters to developing the profoundly lost and utterly clueless mind?

Andrew

Andrew wrote:
> Think I ought to go find a new hole to live in! I read "all" the posts on this both D and D.gnu newsgroups, but feel so out of place, cause I can't understand in excess of 90% of them.  Any idea where I could find place that caters to developing the profoundly lost and utterly clueless mind?
> 
> Andrew
> 

Maybe start here?

http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/cgi-local/pragprog?TheDLanguage

| Maybe start here?
|
| http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/cgi-local/pragprog?TheDLanguage
|

To me this assumes that you already know how to program! I think I need to go way back to the basics...

Andrew wrote:
> | Maybe start here?
> |
> | http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/cgi-local/pragprog?TheDLanguage
> |
> 
> To me this assumes that you already know how to program! I think I need to go way back to the basics...
> 

ahh.  yes.  I'm not sure I'd recommend D as a first language.  Its not yet mature, and you're best not worrying about "gee is this because of me or because the only compiler available is an alpha" --

andy wrote:

| ahh.  yes.  I'm not sure I'd recommend D as a first language.  Its not
| yet mature, and you're best not worrying about "gee is this because of
| me or because the only compiler available is an alpha" --
|

I heard that before! But I have read somewhere that D is easy to learn and would be a great starting point! Thus I made the decision that this would be it! Guess I'll just have to struggle through it! Make no mistake, I will get it!

"Andrew" <crxace13@comcast.net> wrote in news:ae7lmc$1b8j$1@digitaldaemon.com:

> andy wrote:
> 
>| ahh.  yes.  I'm not sure I'd recommend D as a first language.  Its
>| not yet mature, and you're best not worrying about "gee is this
>| because of me or because the only compiler available is an alpha" --
>|
> 
> I heard that before! But I have read somewhere that D is easy to learn and would be a great starting point! Thus I made the decision that this would be it! Guess I'll just have to struggle through it! Make no mistake, I will get it!

The issue really is not so much if D is easier to learn.

Let me make an analogy between programming languages and spoken
languages.  You can say the same thing in a lot of different
languages.  Sometimes a concept is easier to express in one
or another.  But it's not just "how do I say it?" but "what do I
say?".  Imagine you are an English speaker, you don't know French,
and you don't know anything about building bridges.  Now try to
learn French by having a conversation about bridge building with
a French speaking engineer.

The point I'm trying to make is there are a lot of aspects to
programming to learn than just a programming language.  What's
the best data structure to use to hold this piece of data? What's
the best algorithm to use to process it?  How should I manage memory
for this type of problem?  How do I access a database?  How do I
draw graphics?  How do I make a GUI interface?  How do I talk to
a remote server?

The problem with D right now is that you won't find many examples of these sorts of things in D right now.  A lot of people on this news group are trying to reinvent them in D but there is a long way to go yet.  However you will find a lot of examples of these sorts of things in languages like C++ or some other established programming languages.

You're on it, mate!

I reckon that everyone's in the same boat. We each bring some expertise in other areas, but this stuff's so new that

    experience_of_participation_in_D_news_group == future_shock pow 3

Don't worry about it. I've not seen one word of abuse of any person since I've been on the site.

Now, as to fixing your consternation, I am hoping "The D Journal" will provide for a more stable picture of the language, since it will necessarily be monthly/bi-monthly still-shots of the current state. Then one can be comfortable, albeit 4-8 weeks behind.

In fact, one of my main motivations for suggesting the magazine was so that I could have access to such a stabler picture.

:)

"Andrew" <crxace13@comcast.net> wrote in message news:ae7iqd$e3d$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> Think I ought to go find a new hole to live in! I read "all" the posts on this both D and D.gnu newsgroups, but feel so out of place, cause I can't understand in excess of 90% of them.  Any idea where I could find place that caters to developing the profoundly lost and utterly clueless mind?
>
> Andrew
>

Maybe we could have a "D-neophytes" news-group (Walter ??), that would be specifically for tutorial and basic issues, leaving all the scary monkey stuff on this one?

We'd all no doubt be avid readers of this new group, but hopefully would only need to post to ask learning questions or to answer them ...

"Andrew" <crxace13@comcast.net> wrote in message news:ae7lmc$1b8j$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> andy wrote:
>
> | ahh.  yes.  I'm not sure I'd recommend D as a first language.  Its not
> | yet mature, and you're best not worrying about "gee is this because of
> | me or because the only compiler available is an alpha" --
> |
>
> I heard that before! But I have read somewhere that D is easy to learn and would be a great starting point! Thus I made the decision that this would be it! Guess I'll just have to struggle through it! Make no mistake, I
will
> get it!
>

That's a good idea but... I've found that when a second group for beginners is started, advanced users seem to keep way from it.

"Matthew Wilson" <dm@synesis-group.com> wrote in message news:ae8j89$1g1k$2@digitaldaemon.com...
> Maybe we could have a "D-neophytes" news-group (Walter ??), that would be specifically for tutorial and basic issues, leaving all the scary monkey stuff on this one?
>
> We'd all no doubt be avid readers of this new group, but hopefully would only need to post to ask learning questions or to answer them ...

Ask away.

What's your first problem?
Have you got the hello world program to run?

http://www.digitalmars.com/d/html.html

The best way to learn programming is trial an error, and a bit of reading.

Just type out a few programs and then experiment with them? What will happen if I do this or change put this here? Why doesn't this work? (that's what this newsgroup's for)

Here's another thing to fiddle with. http://www.digitalmars.com/d/wc.html

Parhaps you could help some other beginners by posting some questions.


"Andrew" <crxace13@comcast.net> wrote in message news:ae7iqd$e3d$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> Think I ought to go find a new hole to live in! I read "all" the posts on this both D and D.gnu newsgroups, but feel so out of place, cause I can't understand in excess of 90% of them.  Any idea where I could find place that caters to developing the profoundly lost and utterly clueless mind?
>
> Andrew
>