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Tag: JavaScript

Programming Languages

I was chatting with a friend about forgotten programming languages and how many we had learned and forgotten. During a quick Google search for "hundreds of frameworks and languages," I stumbled upon this intriguing list of computer programming languages. The way Bradley broke his list into categories caught my attention, and I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

Over the years, I've encountered and dabbled with several languages. I coded in Commodore BASIC, Pascal, and Motorola 68xx assembly language in high school and university. Later, I extensively used C, Perl, PHP, and JavaScript during my professional journey.

While I did learn languages like C++, Java, Objective-C, and Python, I must admit that I haven't had the chance to create anything meaningful with them. And thanks to my Linux and web development background, I can claim to know scripting languages like Awk and Tcl, along with markup languages such as HTML, XML, and XHTML. It's a pretty diverse list, to say the least!

Though I might have forgotten how to use some of these languages due to lack of practice, I could quickly brush up on my Perl, PHP, and JavaScript skills for web development and systems management if a project came my way. Of all the languages I've encountered, Perl has always held a special place in my heart. It allowed me to express myself freely without enforcing rigid computer science rules. As they say in the programming community, "there is more than one way to do it" with Perl, and I love its philosophy, as highlighted in the book Learning Perl "Making Easy Things Easy and Hard Things Possible."

Looking back at this diverse list of languages, I can't help but marvel at the incredible journey I've had with programming. Each language brought its unique charm and possibilities, making my experience in the world of coding truly memorable.

Delivering a Web experience

A Fundamental Disconnect by Aaron Gustafson (aaron-gustafson.com)

The fundamental problem with viewing JavaScript as the new VM is that it creates the illusion of control. Sure, if we are building an internal Web app, we might be able to dictate the OS/browser combination for all of our users and lock down their machines to prevent them from modifying those settings, but that’s not the reality on the open Web.

 

The fact is that we can’t absolutely rely on the availability of any specific technology when it comes to delivering a Web experience. Instead, we must look at how we construct that experience and make smarter decisions about how we use specific technologies in order to take advantage of their benefits while simultaneously understanding that their availability is not guaranteed. This is why progressive enhancement is such a useful philosophy.

I miss the simple web that was run on HTML, minimal CSS and JavaScript.

The Need to Code | jacquesmattheij.com

That process, the act of programming, is something that I need to do. Whether to make a living or to be fooling around with some idea, the bug is in my system and I highly doubt that it will ever leave me permanently. I can see myself taking a break, but I can't see myself ever stopping. All I'll end up doing then is to change my mode from work to play and eventually that will lead back to some form of work.

I didn't ever stop programming when I transitioned to doing more IT management. I just don't do it as much. The occasional departmental web project had kept the itch suitably scratched. But recently the itch is beginning to bug me. Software development is now fully outsourced.