[PLUG] new guy with questions
Aaron Burt
aaron at bavariati.org
Tue Jun 13 18:23:58 UTC 2006
On Tue, Jun 13, 2006 at 08:59:15AM -0700, Eric Biggs wrote:
> Thanks for the direction to FreeGeek, If I am right it is at 1731 SE 10th
> Ave. I think I'll bring my computer seeing that I am convinced that I want
> Linux. Is the clinic/meeting/whatever from 1 pm to 5 pm?
Correct-a-mundo! And John Jason Jordan may be there. He's a linguistics
student at PSU, and may have some tips on working with other languages.
> My motivation for learning C++ is kind of to add to my repitoire of
> languages, though I don't know any computer languages yet. I am a
> classical (koine) Greek student as well as classical Hebrew (not
> Paleo-Hebrew) and I'm going to be switching my major (eventually) to
> applied linguistics. I was "looking down the road" and considered being
> familar with computaional linguistics and thought to myself, "self, you
> should learn a computer language." It seems that in this field C++ is
> dominate.
Indeed. There are many computer languages, and in my opinion, C++ is
like English: it may be a chaotic mishmash of different languages and
world-models, but it *is* dominant in many areas, and brutally effective
when used with skill.
Programming is an expressive art independent of language. There are
other languages that are easier to learn first. I might recommend Python
or Ruby; there are good books and local groups that can help you learn.
> Those that replied to my posts did some kind of inserting of my posts into
> their replies...
It's called bottom-posting, and has been the traditional style for
electronic communications these past few decades. Questions and such are
quoted and indented, responses are placed below them.
Top-posting (and the email virus) has come into vogue with the advent of
Microsoft Outlook on Windows, much to the consternation of us old-
timers, who prefer to converse rather than exchange broadsides. <grin>
Thank you for noticing, and for asking. Your humility and knack for
observation is rare and most valuable.
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