Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 21:26:21 +0200
From: Octavian Rasnita <orasnita@xxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: ewby on programming need some tips and tricks
Oh my god! How could you dare to say that python's indentation
requirement
is unfriendly for the blind?
Have you seen what the other list members told me when I told that?
Because I told that python is accessible and with some more effort it can
be
used, but the indentation is not exactly friendly.
But I don't understand why python is recommended for cross platform
development. Is it better than Java for cross platform development? Does
it
run on more systems? (Because that is independent platform developement
about).
Or does it run on more systems than perl?
Well, you told that the minimum punctuation is friendly, but this is not
exactly true, but each one have his preferences for this.
I think one of the things I don't like in python and VB is that they
don't
end the lines with a semicolon, to be more clear where the current line
ends, and they also don't use braces, to be also more clear where a block
begins and ends.
And I really don't have anything with python in this respect. I also
don't
like ruby for this reason even though you told that ruby accepts those
semicolons, but they are not required, so many programmers will surely
skip
them.
Well, I read better what you said, and it is true, you told that this is
a
preference of beginners, so it might be truefor beginners... I don't
know.
But I also agree with you that case insensitivity is friendly.
However, I told you that I have never found util an interactive
environment
when you done the one for perl. I really don't know what I could use such
a
thing, so in my opinion it is useless.
But I am thinking that my text editor that can run any perl code could be
considered very well such an environment that can get parameters from
STDIN
and print to STDERR and STDOUT, and it is also very accessible, and I can
check and modify the code I write in previous lines... and maybe that's
why
I don't feel the need for another testing environment.
Anyway, you've started with "If a new programmer wants to maximize the
chance of getting paid", without other specifications, but it could
depend
on many criteria, one of the most important beeing the location of that
programmer, because the demand for programming languages are not the same
in
all countries.
In my country there are no very many that cares about python, or perl, or
ruby, however most of the jobs are for PHP programmers and then for Java
and
C# and there still are some for C++ also.
So the list member that put the original question should have also told
more
about what he wants to do finally, because otherwise we bang our heads to
give the best solution.
And anyway, I would have found some disadvantages for any programming
language. :-)
(I like to do that because I don't like that absolutely every time all
the
people present only the advantages, while we all know that there are
disadvantages in every programming language. Do you remember that long
list
of disadvantages of perl I sent to the list some years ago?)
Octavian
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jamal Mazrui" <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 8:47 PM
Subject: Re: ewby on programming need some tips and tricks
> For whatever it's worth, my present perspective on these topics is as
> follows.
>
> If a new programmer wants to maximize the chance of getting paid
> employment, I suggest lerning Java, C#, or PHP. If the primary
> interest
> is developing web sites, I recommend PHP. If Windows desktop
> applications, I recommend either C# or Visual Basic .NET, depending on
> personal preference about syntax. If cross-platform development is the
> highest priority, I recommend Python.
>
> Regarding Python, I think its indentation requirement is unfriendly to
> blind programmers, particularly speech-without-braille users. Other
> aspects of a language should also be considered, however, in judging
> how
> friendly a language is. Clean syntax with a minimum of punctuation
> symbols often makes a language more friendly to beginners. In the
> languages I have mention so far, Python and Visual Basic are the
> friendliest in that respect. Case sensitivity also makes a difference
> to
> friendliness. Visual Basic is the friendliest in that respect, since
> the
> other languages mentioned are case sensitive. An interactive
> environment
> for testing small pieces of code is another aspect of friendliness.
> Python is the best of the languages mentioned in that respect.
>
> For anyone interested in a research project, I think the topic of what
> language is easiest for a beginning blind programmer is worth
> investigating. Without empirical evidence, it is difficult to judge
> how
> to weigh the different factors that affect the friendliness of a
> language.
> Let me encourage any student or professional researchers on this list
> to
> consider designing a study that may shed more light on this.
>
> Jamal
>
> __________
> View the list's information and change your settings at
> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>
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