Talk Binary » Programming

Don’t Call Yourself A Programmer

Diego — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:04:17 +0000

Curriculums for Computer Science usually include your typical Algorithms, Operating Systems, Security, Networks, Databases, Computer Organization, and among other classes but it’s truly lacking one critical course in my opinion, Careers 101.

This course would include most of the things that aren’t taught in regular courses such how to stand our from the crowd when applying for jobs, how to build a network, how to make yourself valuable as an engineer, and such. If I would’ve had been taught all these things before I started my career, I would’ve been a lot more prepared.

Recently an article called Don’t call yourself a programmer, and other career advice discusses lots of interesting points:

Don’t call yourself a programmer: “Programmer” sounds like “anomalously high-cost peon who types some mumbo-jumbo into some other mumbo-jumbo.” If you call yourself a programmer, someone is already working on a way to get you fired. You know Salesforce, widely perceived among engineers to be a Software as a Services company? Their motto and sales point is “No Software”, which conveys to their actual customers “You know those programmers you have working on your internal systems? If you used Salesforce, you could fire half of them and pocket part of the difference in your bonus.” (There’s nothing wrong with this, by the way. You’re in the business of unemploying people. If you think that is unfair, go back to school and study something that doesn’t matter.)

It’s quite long, but trust me, it’s worth the read if you plan on becoming a successful engineer.

Don’t call yourself a programmer, and other career advice

Google Maps API

Diego — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:26:55 +0000

With the Google Maps API anyone could easily integrate Google Maps into their own websites and applications (even mobile). Getting started and developing is fairly easy since there are handy developer guides, tutorials, references, and tons of examples on the API’s respective site.

Google Maps API Family

Currently, there are six different flavors of the Google Maps API. I’ll briefly describe the ones that need more explanation.

Google Maps Javascript API
Google Maps API for Flash
Google Earth API
Google Static Maps API – For embedding a simple image of a map
Google Maps Web Services – Useful for directions, information about places…
Google Maps Data API – For viewing, updating, and storing map data

Getting Started with Google Maps API

First of all, signing up is easy. You simply need to apply for a single Maps API key at the Google Maps API Sign Up page. All you need is a Google account and provide a website URL in which you will use the API.

My project using Google Maps API

Then after that, simply follow the developer’s guide to the respective API of your choice to get started. I’ve used the Google Maps Javascript API quite a bit and it was fairly easy to get it up and running. I started by reading The “Hello World” of Google Maps to get started and then after that followed the rest of the tutorials and tried out lots of the examples. The neat thing about examples is that you can view the code to see how developers implement different features onto their Google Maps.

So if you ever had any ideas for an application that could make use of a map, you should definitely give Google Maps API a try. Below is a video of Google Maps API and Yelp.

How to install Ubuntu using VirtualBox

Diego — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:37:33 +0000

How to install Ubuntu using VirtualBox

Today, we are going to teach you how to use VirtualBox to install Ubuntu using Windows. (This could easily be done on Linux, or a Mac too.) This is a great option for those of you who want to get a programming environment and those who want to avoid dual-booting your computer since it involves a great risk if done wrong. Virtualizing an OS is an easy task and it only takes a few steps. It should take a new user about five minutes to get going. So let’s get started.

What you need to virtualize Ubuntu on VirtualBox

First of all you will need VirtualBox and an OS, for our tutorial we will be going with Ubuntu. For Ubuntu, you can simply download the Ubuntu CD image on their download page. They are both free of course. You can choose any other top linux distribution if you want, only one step would change in this process. Most of the instructions are relatively straight forward, so I’ll guide you through them so you don’t get lost.

By the time you finish this quick and easy process, you should be getting this type of environment (version may be different of course).

Step 1: Create a new Virtual Machine

Open up VirtualBox and click on the blue button that says new so you can be greeted with the following.

Step 2: Choose a name for your installation

If you are installing Ubuntu, you can simply name it “Ubuntu”. Under OS type, chose Linux for the Operating System, and Ubuntu for the version.

Step 3: Allocate memory for your OS

Select the amount of memory (RAM) you want to allocate to your machine. Don’t worry if you think it’s too little or too much. You can always change this later. If you would use Ubuntu to learn how to program, you wouldn’t need to much anyways. Depending on how much RAM you have, you’d be fine with the default, 512MB, and 1024MB would be more than enough.

Step 4: Create the virtual hard disk

Since this is your first time, simply leave the defaults for now.

Step 5: Selecting the Hard Disk Storage Type

I’d go with the Dynamically Expanding Storage since it offers you a bit more flexibility in the end. This way, you don’t go over the limit you initially proposed.

Step 5: Virtual Disk Location and Size

You can change the default location of your Virtual Disk if you wish. Concerning the size, you can allocate as much as you need. Anywhere from 4GB – 8GB should be enough. You can stick to the lower end if you simply want to give Ubuntu a try.

Step 6: Welcome to the first run wizard!

Hang on tight, you are almost there.

Step 7: Select Installation Media

For now we are sticking with the CD/DVD-ROM Device option to install our Ubuntu installation since we downloaded the ISO To select our ISO simply click on the folder icon.

Step 8: Select the Ubuntu installation

Now, simply Add your Ubuntu iso and hit Select.

Step 9: Congratulations, you did it.

Congratulations. You should be followed with instructions to complete your Ubuntu installation. Now that was easy wasn’t it? If anything went wrong, you could simply delete the virtual machine and try again, or even try another distribution. If you still have any questions, feel free to ask below.

Now get going and get some programming!

Useful resources

So now that you installed Ubuntu, why not check out the following resources to help you out with your programming endeavors?

Prolog, Google, and more reveal the answer to life and everything

Diego — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:54:11 +0000

Prolog apparently reveals the answer to life if you try finding a binding for the variable X. Since it tries proving X for any value, apparently it decides to use the answer to life as the binding. Mysterious!? Tell us what you think.

Even Google agrees

Why is 42 the answer to the universe and everything in life? Beats me but apparently its the true answer. Try asking Google it doesn’t disagree.

And before you start doubting the big G, you have to consider xkcd webcomics, which are awesome btw. Check out Ask the admin and find out how xkcd is related to the answer to life as well.

Is this starting to get creepy? Look at the palm of your hand, it is also said you have 42 major creases. Weird? Well it might because I just made that up but wouldn’t surprise me if it was true! (In case it is, tell me!)

Share with us your programming encounters!

Encountered something similar? Why not share it with the everyone?

This prolog interpreter can be installed from the command line with a simple

sudo apt-get install swi-prolog

Or depending on the OS you have, you might simply have to use your content manager to download it to your system.

Start Programming in C++

Diego — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:29:05 +0000

Want to start programming in C++? No worries. There is nothing to buy. It also isn’t difficult to get started! Anyone can learn! Talk Binary offers a variety of tutorials to get you started on the right track and right away! We’ll also step through every step of the process so you can get started as soon as possible!

So what do I need to know to get started?

You can either program right away in Windows, or can download and install Ubuntu! It’s all based on preference. I’d recommend you to try both out first before you decide on where to start.

1. If you want a programming environment you can try out Linux Distribution Ubuntu and Install Dual-Boot Ubuntu on your computer so you may boot either Windows or Linux!

a. Then you should check out How to write and compile a C++ program in Linux. This tutorial will step you through the process of compiling a C++ program in Linux using the terminal.

2. If you want to try programming first in your Windows environment you should check out How to write and compile a C++ program in Windows using an IDE.

Where do I learn C++?

Below are some tutorials do get you started. These are not meant to be complete references of each particular topic. These are merely shown in order for you to learn the basic concepts. References and advanced topics will soon be posted.

1.0 Hello World in C++ – Teaches you the introductory program in C++.

1.1 Fundamental Data Types Int and Double – Introduces variables and how to manipulate data.

1.2 Fundamental Data Types String – Introduces the string.

1.3 Basic Control Flow – Introduces the If, If-Else, and Else statement to control the flow of your program instructions.

1.3.1 Basic Control Flow Continued – Introduces boolean variable, and more advanced control flow techniques

1.4 Advanced Control Flow – For Loop – Introduces the for loop. A loop that executes lines of codes until a condition is met.

1.5 Advanced Control Flow – While Loop – Introduces the while loop. Similar to the for loop.

2.0 Simple Data Structure – The Vector – Learn an easy yet powerful to use data structure.

2.1 Functions – Learn how to create a function that enables you to execute a set of instructions with multiple sets of input by simply using a function call. No more rewriting the same code over and over again.

More tutorials are going to be posted soon! Meanwhile, why don’t you subscribe to my RSS feed so you can receive updates on my site?