Learning Programming

There has been so many improvements from past,the most notable being the replacement of PhP with Python and introduction of Machine Learning in the curriculum.

The first lecture is all about Scratch essentially and the abstraction of from where CS starts and what actually made it possible (not sure about this statement, but I would dig deep)

The binary notation is where any number can be depicted by the powers of 2, unlike decimal, which is denoted by power of 10s.

So to depict anything we need just two stuff, unlike in decimal, where we need 9 stuff. So essentially we have two states and these two states can represent anything in this world.

And with the advent of electricity and magnetism, it became easy to depict these two states, so either electricity is flowing or not, or a surface is magnetised or not.

All information can be represented by these two things or two bits.

The lecture also reinforced the concept of Abstraction, which is basically we dont want to go and see how the stuff has been done, but what we can do with the stuff.

Yesterday night, I kept on pondering again, on the reasons of myself not being able to learn programming the way I wanted to be and I again started with the core belief that as it the imposter syndrome or fear?

I reasoned out that it was none of those things, because if that would have been the case I would not have begun learning like 6 or 7 different programming languages in the first place.

Fear or Imposter Syndrome grips you, it never even lets you begin, but that was not the case with me.

It was just that on slightest obstacle, I took the easy way out and the biggest reason was that I was not focused like hell on making this thing true, I was just tramping around.

And then I ran the thought all the way back down to my high school and senior school, and I found the pattern there also. Not sticking. Reading or watching or listening something and then going towards it. Thinking about something else always, not putting my head in like an ostrich, and deciding that it is enough!

I wanted but perhaps, I did not wanted it so badly, that I would stick to it like hell.

And today, starting in the morning, it has been my first 3 hour self-learning of programming session and from 1% course complete, I am now 2% course complete on MITx - 6.00.1x.

I did not give up, did not started with like reading news articles or even checking email, I just took the bull with horns and applied the same attitude with all the exercises, did not give up, until I fully understood them or got them right. I just kept at it.

And then one of the revelation, as I read the discussion forums, the people were having the similar kind of doubts or making the same kind of mistakes as I did, so it was not that problem was something in me, it was just routine to make such mistakes initially while learning.

I started afresh with FreeCodeCamp, did all those challenges which I had done more than a year back, the reason FCC presented it to me again, was because there was such a long gap in my continuity. That is fair enough also.

But somehow, I was not comfortable or enjoying what I was doing, it felt like I was dragging and then soon enough I gave up.

I sat to ponder over why it was happening and then I realised the root cause, it was because I was leaving one thing and starting another, I was not devoting my all ie physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energies towards one singular goal. If I have left one goal, mid-way, without devoting my sincere and utmost efforts, why the cosmos would allow me to fulfill another goal?

I started with Python, left it and dabbled with PhP, then left it and dabbled with Ruby, then Rails, even started Lisp and then for a while C and once even thought of C++; it was that mythical chase to find something which I could accomplish, but that chase never existed. The chase was within me itself, it was to better, what I had done yesterday, with my existing programming skills.

Instead of persisting with one goal of learning programming with Python and then mastering it, I just wavered and trampled, and when I myself did not help myself, why the cosmos would help me?

And this is the reason, I am still nothing more than a HTML,CSS and Bootstrap guy.

So I have decided to to go back to the horizon from where I started, perhaps about 7 years back, when I intended to learn programming through Python and stick with it, even to the perils of my life and learn any new technology, only and until absolutely necessary to solve a problem, without which I cannot proceed.

I picked after a week exactly, where I left. But I picked, completed a couple of exercises and a couple of videos of Part 2 of Python Basics.

String slicing and indexing is easy, the first time I did it with Udacity’s “Intro to Programming”, it felt like some complex operation, perhaps because it took straight-away to a real world problem, instead of like plainly explaining the concept in details.

Today, I am again wavering, and this time to FreeCodeCamp tutorial. There is a lot of UN Online volunteering opportunity available for website creation and updating and in fact I am interviewing for one of them.

The key to landing one of those is to have a sound knowledge of front-end development.

But this could be a mere excuse itself also, just to point out to myself, that I am not digressing.

But whatever it takes, I am not going to quit this time and I am going to make it through.

Its been like more than a month and due to the fucking imposter syndrome with which I have been fighting like for past 7 years, as far as learning computer science and programming is concerned, I have been just able to complete the part 1 of Week 1.

So, I have about 25 odd days and have to get 54% more marks (I have already lost the opportunity of the first Quiz).

I am going to fight this fucking imposter syndrome and the devil in my head and this time I am going to pass this course.

I was intrigued by variables and the fact that what is stored in the memory, the name or the value. For all these years, I was not convinced that it is the value which is stored in the memory and not the name.

though i can recall in one of the several tutorials, the value being referred to as the box or the container in the memory and the name as sort of sticker on it, so that it could be referred.

When a new binding is done, what it actually means is that you have put out the sticker from that container and then stick it on a new container.

the stuff lying int he old container or the old container is still out there but now there is no way to get to it.

Is this what we call garbage management in memory?

Yesterday slept around 0400 hrs, though the excitement did not really allowed to have a kind of peaceful sleep.

Having a machine after ages, I could not still believed it.

Till now ie 0315 hrs, almost the entire time has been spent on configuring the machine for use, by installing the most common programs which I use often or which I used to often.

Though installing on Windows is tad easier than Linux, but being a Ubuntu boy for past almost like 5 years or so (except an interval of about one year), it is slightly difficult to acclimatise self first.

Most of the code set up is complete, except for the fact that I am not being able to download one of my favourite code editors, Bracket.

Some crazy stuff has happened in last two days or so. I got an offer to use a laptop yesterday, and I was not at all sure that I would get the machine.

Entire morning today, I worked on my mobile only and something which I so badly wanted, all these days or may be even months along (at least last 3) came true this evening and since about 2330 hrs, I have been fixing this machine for use tomorrow.

Basically installing updates, it is a Windows m/c with 4 GB RAM and looks like it has been hardly being used, though it has a German keyboard but I have switched it to English (US) and it is not much of a trouble.

I am ready for tomorrow with Anaconda, Git, Sublime and updated browsers installed.

This quote which says something like, if you want something, the whole universe conspires to get you that...

Also, I believe it is a good omen and sign from heavens that it is intended for me to learn Computer Science and Programming, else I would not have got this beautiful machine.

I will not let go of this opportunity.

Installed Python 3, specifically 3.4.2 on GNURootDebian.

Seems Python 3.6 is not available on Debian yet.

Also installed VIM and Git on the same and cloned my already existing repository - https://github.com/therealmccoy/6001 and made a test commit via phone also.

Funny thing with Vim was that I forgot that to get back from insertion mode to command mode, I had to first do an escape (Installed Hackers Keyboard) and even uninstalled and then reinstalled Vim.

So stupid of me, but then this is what happens when one is not in practice.

Found out about QPython from an online article and installed that one too, though desisted that for a lot of time, because it asked for everything on my phone, except the colour of my underwear.

There was earlier issue when I started with installation of GNU Root and GNU Wheezy. I was prompted to install the new app in lieu of GNURoot and I did install, GNURootDebian. It did not need to install any other separate installation.

On opening up this app, it started installing it self, just like how the installation happens on a desktop, it was cute to see that.

ran apt-get update and it started downloading Jessie updates, which meant that the GNUWheezy update which I had downloaded was now worthless. So I removed it.

ran some usual commands and it worked just like Linux on desktop.