http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/7953
This was a great tutorial. It was as good of a brain dump as you could hope for in a half day session. A good mix of theory and hands on examples. This got me excited to get back to the office and push to get this adopted as soon as possible. (It's already "in the air". It just needs a nudge to get us converted over to it)
Well done!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Still Looking for the Swan in Squeak's Ugly Duckling
http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/8158
So this is not exactly the tutorial I was expecting. But it's also quite possible my expectations were a little skewed.
Unfortunately Avi Bryant wasn't able to make the conference so Randal Schwartz stepped in. And no disrespect to Randal but if I had known this substitution had occurred, I would have picked a different tutorial simply because I had seen his presentation last year and was interested in a different perspective.
Partly I feel like I was expecting too much from this tutorial and part of me feels like I got something different than described.
When I read the description in the link above I don't get the sense of a remedial no-background talk. But like I said Randal took this over at the last minute for Avi so I have no complaints with him.
I think I focused a little too much on the last paragraph of the description whereas I should realize that that is what usually gets covered least at the end (or not at all):
"But we’ll also address the practical concerns that keep people away from Squeak: how to get rid of the pastel colors and bitmapped fonts so that you can stand to look at it; how to get your source code into version control so you can collaborate with others; how to find documentation and examples; how to integrate with the OS and with C libraries; how to manage deployment."
I am relatively comfortable with the ideas of smalltalk and reading it's code, just not completely sold on the language and environment. So what I was mostly looking for was the addressing of "practical concerns that keep people away from Squeak":
But really it was a well done tutorial, just not what I was expecting. But I think
this was just a combination of over ambitious expectations and last minute teacher changes.
Here is the smalltalk course I would love to have:
So this is not exactly the tutorial I was expecting. But it's also quite possible my expectations were a little skewed.
Unfortunately Avi Bryant wasn't able to make the conference so Randal Schwartz stepped in. And no disrespect to Randal but if I had known this substitution had occurred, I would have picked a different tutorial simply because I had seen his presentation last year and was interested in a different perspective.
Partly I feel like I was expecting too much from this tutorial and part of me feels like I got something different than described.
When I read the description in the link above I don't get the sense of a remedial no-background talk. But like I said Randal took this over at the last minute for Avi so I have no complaints with him.
I think I focused a little too much on the last paragraph of the description whereas I should realize that that is what usually gets covered least at the end (or not at all):
"But we’ll also address the practical concerns that keep people away from Squeak: how to get rid of the pastel colors and bitmapped fonts so that you can stand to look at it; how to get your source code into version control so you can collaborate with others; how to find documentation and examples; how to integrate with the OS and with C libraries; how to manage deployment."
I am relatively comfortable with the ideas of smalltalk and reading it's code, just not completely sold on the language and environment. So what I was mostly looking for was the addressing of "practical concerns that keep people away from Squeak":
- how to get rid of the pastel colors and bitmapped fonts so that you can stand to look at it;
- just a mention that this is possible. I would have really liked a detailed course on how to customize the ugly duckling away
- how to get your source code into version control so you can collaborate with others;
- there was a pretty good description of version control and options for doing this
- how to find documentation and examples;
- this was well done and is a core part of the wonder of smalltalk
- how to integrate with the OS and with C libraries;
- I don't think there was any mention of this (unless I really zoned out)
- how to manage deployment.
- I don't recall anything like this
But really it was a well done tutorial, just not what I was expecting. But I think
this was just a combination of over ambitious expectations and last minute teacher changes.
Here is the smalltalk course I would love to have:
- develop a real world useful app while I watch. e.g. take some unix sysadmin tasks and automate them and create a reporting system etc. ie, show me that squeak can kick python's ass at something where python excels
- show me how to recover when my image crashes or I've accidentally broken things
- show me how to customize my way from the default image to one of the premade developer images. then explain to me why these aren't already the defaults
- show me how to convince my bosses that I should do a trial project in smalltalk. :)
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Happy Birthday - My mission to get to 100 pushups is now one year old!
So after a year of the 100 pushup plan, where am I? 75.
Now if you are familiar with the 6 weeks to 100 pushup plan you might detect a slight disconnect between the plan and my success. Just an eentsy bit off...
On the one hand: holy crap I can do 75 pushups. And also: wow, look at the determination and will power.
On the other hand: what is wrong with me? Why can't I finish this sucker? And: why am I wasting my time, focus on this?
So there you go. I'm part super man and part loser. I knew that before I started.
OK. If I haven't gotten to 100 before another year passes I seriously have to reevaluate this whole thing.
(Any tips from the pros out there how to get the last 25?)
Now if you are familiar with the 6 weeks to 100 pushup plan you might detect a slight disconnect between the plan and my success. Just an eentsy bit off...
On the one hand: holy crap I can do 75 pushups. And also: wow, look at the determination and will power.
On the other hand: what is wrong with me? Why can't I finish this sucker? And: why am I wasting my time, focus on this?
So there you go. I'm part super man and part loser. I knew that before I started.
OK. If I haven't gotten to 100 before another year passes I seriously have to reevaluate this whole thing.
(Any tips from the pros out there how to get the last 25?)
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