Programmer 101: Teach Yourself How to Code [Programming]
My Clippings November 12th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
You've always wanted to learn how to build software yourself—or just whip up an occasional script—but never knew where to start. Luckily, the web is full of free resources that can turn you into a programmer in no time.
Since the invention of the internet, programmers have been using it to discuss software development techniques, publish tutorials, and share code samples for others to learn from and use online. If you’re curious about how to become a programmer, you can get off to a running start using tons of great free web-based tutorials and resources.
First Things First: Don’t Get Hung Up on Choosing a Language
A common pitfall for beginners is getting stuck figuring out which programming language is best to learn first. There are a lot of opinions out there, but there's no one "best" language. Here's the thing: In the end, language doesn't matter THAT much. Understanding data and control structures and design patterns does matter very much. Every language—even a simple scripting language—will have elements that you'll use in other languages as well and will help you learn. In classes I took to get my degree in Computer Science, I programmed in Pascal, Assembly, and C—languages I never actually got paid to program in professionally. I taught myself every language I've used in my career, reusing concepts I already knew, and referring to documentation and books to learn its syntax. So, don't get hung up on what language to learn first. Pick the kind of development you want to do, and just get started using one that works.
There are several different kinds of software development you can do for various platforms, from the web to your desktop to your smartphone to a command line. In this article, we’ll outline some of our favorite starter tutorials and resources for teaching yourself how to program for each major platform. We’re going to assume you’re a savvy user, but a newb when it comes to wrangling code snippets, so we’ll keep things at the beginner level. Even just following through a beginner programming tutorial, you’ll be happy to see how far you can get.
Tags: Apple, backup, Bookmarklet, Bookmarklets, Build, cli, command line, css, email, flash, Google, Information, IO, Javascript, Linux, ma, Mac, man, Monkey, OSX, php, quick, script, video, way, wind, WordPress, XP
Five Best Software Update Tools [Hive Five]
My Clippings October 18th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Rather than wait around for your software to notify you of updates (let’s face it, a lot of applications never will), these five handy tools keep an eye on your apps, alert you when an update’s available, and streamline the updating process.
Photo by Wesley Fryer.
Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite software update tools, and now we’re back with the five most popular nominees. Read on for an overview of each, then cast your vote for the one you like best in the poll below.
Note: Clicking on the screenshots below will enlarge the screenshots to their original size.
FileHippo Update Checker (Windows, Free)
FileHippo.com is a software download site that hosts tons of both freeware and shareware, so the FileHippo Update Checker is a natural extension of their web site—only better. The lightweight application (the download is 155kb) scans your computer for installed apps in seconds, compares your installed version with the FileHippo.com database to check for new releases, then lists all detected updates in a list in your browser along with links to download your updates. FileHippo Update Checker is a free download for Windows only. (Original post)
Synaptic/APT (Linux, Free)
The Advanced Packaging Tool, a.k.a. APT, is a free tool built into most Linux distributions and many variants that handles the installation, removal, and updating of software packages. APT is a tool that went a long way toward making Linux a bit friendlier to the masses who aren't comfortable installing or compiling software packages on Linux, but it runs from the command line, so it's still not all that friendly to folks joining Linux from the Windows or Mac worlds. That's where Synaptic comes in. Synaptic is a graphical front end to APT that makes the tool wildly more user-friendly, and—yes—it handles checking for and updating software with aplomb. (Folks using Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distribution among Lifehacker readers, take note: Synaptic will be replaced by the Ubuntu Software Center—another APT-powered update tool—in April of 2010.)
Tags: Apple, Build, cli, command line, email, Google, Information, IO, Linux, ma, Mac, man, OSX, Photo, quick, script, security, Ubuntu, way, wind
Command-Line Copy&Paste With xclip (Debian/Ubuntu)
My Clippings October 8th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Command-Line Copy&Paste With xclip (Debian/Ubuntu)
xclip is a command line interface to the X11 clipboard. It allows
you to put the output of a command directly into the clipboard so that
you don't have to copy&paste from the terminal manually (which can
be a tedious task especially if the output is very long). It also
allows you to put the contents of a file directly into the clipboard.
Tags: cli, command line, Google, IO, ma, man, terminal, Ubuntu
NirLauncher puts hundreds of Nirsoft and SysInternals apps in one tidy package
My Clippings October 7th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Filed under: Security, Utilities, Freeware, Troubleshooting
NirSoft has developed a truckload of useful little applications over the years, many of which you’re probably carting around on a USB flash drive if you do any admin work.
Now, thanks to the availability of the NirLauncher beta, Nir’s applications are easier to download and use than ever. Included with the NirLauncher executable are more than 100 applications including password viewers for various apps, command line utilities, web video tools, and loads more.
As Nir points out on his blog post, at least one of the apps in the suite is probably going to trigger a false positive from your antivirus app of choice.
Continue reading NirLauncher puts hundreds of Nirsoft and SysInternals apps in one tidy package
NirLauncher puts hundreds of Nirsoft and SysInternals apps in one tidy package originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: cli, command line, email, flash, Google, Inc., IO, ma, man, php, security, video
Use SUSE Studio to Build a Linux OS From Scratch [Operating Systems]
My Clippings September 30th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Think you can make a better fast-booting, Chrome-focused OS than Google? Want to craft a custom Linux system that boots from a USB stick? SUSE Studio gives you 15 GB to do exactly that, and you do it all online.
SUSE Studio is what powered the fan-made “Chrome OS” we posted yesterday, which, in that case, was a semi-stripped-down system loaded with the developers’ version of Chrome, Google webapp links, and OpenOffice. If speed and cloud computing aren’t your bag, you can create a fully functional system with Firefox, 3D graphics, and whatever apps you can find installed. Want your system to start up with an AWN dock and Launchy keystroke launcher running? Not a problem.
Even if you don't know all that much about Linux, it's pretty easy to build a system you can boot from a USB stick or live CD/DVD, run inside a virtual machine program, or actually install it—or, heck, even test it out in your web browser.
Here’s a basic walkthrough of building a system with SUSE Studio. In this case, we’re looking to build a GNOME-based system that would boot fairly quick and use Chrome for most of its functions, and use GNOME-Do as the primary application launcher.
Get an account, choose your desktop
First things first, you’ll need to grab an invitation and account from SUSE Studio. While it’s invite-only at the moment, I received my invite only 10 minutes after registering and filling out a quick survey that suggested it would boost my invite reply time. Once your invite arrives, you can sign into SUSE Studio with your Google or Yahoo account, or any OpenID provider. Not sure how to nab an OpenID? Here’s a quick video tutorial.
Once you’re signed in, head to your “Home” screen and click the “Create new appliance” link in the upper-right. SUSE Studio calls each bootable system you create an “appliance” throughout the process. You’ll be asked to choose your “base template,” which includes the GNOME and KDE desktops, a Just Enough OS (jeOS) option, and server or command-line-only choices. Most folks will want to lean toward GNOME or KDE setups, as they're the most familiar graphical environments. If you're familiar with Linux enough to know how to build a login manager and desktop from a command line system, though, go ahead and play around—you can't really hurt anything.
Tags: Build, cli, command line, Google, IO, ISO, Linux, ma, Mac, man, quick, script, video, VirtualBox, way, wind
