[ale] [OT] Programmer's list?

[Steve Litt]

Leam Hall via Ale said on Sun, 22 May 2022 06:34:19 -0500

> I find myself with general
> programming questions and prefer non-language specific answers.

Hi Leam,

You and I could start one. It would be useful in certain situations.

My son, who is basically a suit, is now programming Visual Basic for
Applications (VBA) with SQL. Sometimes he calls me for advice, which is
funny because I've never done VBA and SQL isn't one of my strong
points, yet I can still help him for one simple reason: I know what
tasks languages can accomplish. So I'm able to think in pseudocode,
postponing syntax for later.

Another thing: I haven't been a professional developer in the last 18
years, so I don't program every day. But just for running my business, I
probably use 4 languages per week, and I have a very poor memory. No
problem: I know what tasks languages do, so I web search "how to task-a
in language-b", and in a few minutes I have what I need. If I didn't
know or understand the basic operations needed to program, I'd be
helpless.

There's no substitute for memorizing everything about your everyday
language to do things lightning fast. But when working with a language
that's auxiliary to you, non-language-specific answers are needed.

Also, I was a professional developer for 20 years, so I learned tasks
all languages can do. But what about people with only 3 years
experience? Non-language-specific answers would be good for them too.

SteveT

Steve Litt 
March 2022 featured book: Making Mental Models: Advanced Edition
http://www.troubleshooters.com/mmm