Thanks to http://yichao.zhang.googlepages.com/blogsync-with-gui.tar.gz – I have now crossed over to blogger. I already had several blogs because of videoblogging and probably should have just started here in the first place, I like that I can customize my blog a little more. Anyway, hopefully I can get back on the planet now.
Today was the first class of my BTP600 Design Patterns class. The teacher talked about how there are 3 ways to go about learning to write larger, non-trivial programs.
I like this class. It’s very hard to see how I will ever write something large and non-trivial but I know that’s what we will accomplish by the end of BTS and this course as well. When I look at the mozilla code base, I can’t see how something like this came to be. What do you write first?
The teacher mentioned that Kernighan (sp?) and Richie write really great code and so I’d like to read some. Anyone know of a good example? I welcome tips on code that you may have found exciting to read.
Something that I have come to appreciate about Mozilla is that its chat channels on IRC are incredibly positive, helpful and relevant. As there are so many areas in developing and using Mozilla projects, several channels exist that allow you to join a channel when it is specific to your area of discussion.
Recently I went to the Joomla channel because I am working on a project for a friend in Joomla. Now, this is my first time working with Joomla. I have attended a brief “Hands on” workshop at the Ontario Linux Conference and I’ve read some of Dan Rahmel’s “Professional Joomla”. I was having trouble understanding the way that Joomla uses plug-ins. Basically there’s a plug-in that can recognize a snippet of custom code in an article – ie: {images view|gallery} or something like that. What I wanted to do was to be able to put that code in a module so that I could position it on the page in the way that modules can be positioned. I can’t find a way to position articles.
So I go to the Joomla channel in the hopes that talking with real person will help – much as going to the mozilla channels has helped in the past. I know that the #seneca channel is special because it is targeted at students who are learning, but the Joomla channel said at the top “Be patient, as your question – if no answer, try giving more info” (paraphrasing). I assumed that I could ask my question and get at least one person to talk it out with me.
Wrong.
What I got instead was a big fat nothing. NO response. NO acknowledgement. I asked politely if I should provide more information, and someone (who had been talking away about someone being gay) said “Oh, i didn’t see the question”. So I rephrase it and ask again – then nothing again. What?!
In frustration, I ask “is anyone here knowledgeable about plugins?” and a half hour later, at which point I had moved on to other tasks since there was no reply yet again, I get a private message from someone who says “ya, what you want?”. I didn’t bother responding. I created an html workaround to what I wanted to accomplish and moved on.
Needless to say, this experience was disheartening for a moment. But then I saw the positive side. I am a small part of a channel or two on the mozilla irc that is friendly, helpful and welcoming. So that’s nice to notice and appreciate.
