As mentioned in our latest Kickstarter update, we'll continue live-streaming the creation of our #FujoGuide website tomorrow August 24th at 3PM PDT (timezone converter in replies).
Join us on Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/essentialrandomness) as we recreate our character cards using Astro Components. We’ll then pair these with Astro Content Collections to easily add more characters to the roster and keep up-to-date information for their artists, all across our website!
Could novice programmers write clean code from the start?
Clean code is not just for professional developers. Especially beginners quickly lose track of their code. Clean code would help against that. I think we can explain clean code principles to absolute programming beginners, for example the DRY principle:
I'm glad that these "smart rules of engagement," as the piece calls them, will restrict the number of innocent humans we murder remotely with robots to an acceptable level. It will be a great comfort to those families who lose a loved one to know that we were "near certain" their loved one wouldn't be killed before we did just that.
I'm attempting to teach myself how to code using Python, MicroPython and CircuitPython. I am using a device called "Pygamer" that also lets me code games using Microsoft's makecode arcade. I am using a raspberry Pi 4b as my main computer. I chose to use a raspberry Pi 4b for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason is power consumption (8 watts vs 100+ watts) but the other reason is that it forces me out of my comfort zone. I also just wanted to see if it were possible to learn this stuff without a faster computer. It is possible but it's not plug and play that is for sure!
I am teaching myself this stuff becuase I became disabled around 4 years ago and was no longer able to work doing what I used to do (construction). Disability income is not enough to live on and grow unless you work really hard at learning a skill that doesn't require a large financial investment.
My ultimate goal is to reach a point where I can start tutoring programming and maybe even start a summer camp style electronics thing in the future!
So for now, as I learn, I document everything. I am attempting to build somewhat of a curriculum while I also learn the fundamentals. One day I'll use these materials in my lessons!
I'll be working on this stuff for the next few years as I have a roadmap that leads into 2028. Here is hoping by 2028 I can laugh at my terrible attempts at programming today!
I will mostly be using microcontrollers for my journey as devices like the adafruit Pygamer and pimoroni PicoSystem are relatively cheap and they give you a choice of a few possible languages to learn. Not only that, the extremely limited hardware forces you to focus on game design principles and coding with memory in mind. This will keep me from running away with ideas like I did back when I was playing with Godot as I am very limited in what mechanics I am able to implement!
Those tiny game systems are going to be the basis of ALL my projects moving forward. The Pygamer especially as I was able to grab a few right before they sold out for good!
My favourite genre of games are RPGs and text based adventures. Ever since coming on Mastodon I have been thinking about what it would take to make a vision impaired or blind friendly rpg/tba. This would be my ultimate goal, to code accessible games but for now unfortunately I'm going to have to use the materials that already exist which don't have vision impaired people in mind whatsoever. That is okay though. I will be keeping accessibility in mind once I start actually coding my own game!
I never shared anything on the old social media sites but Mastodon seems infinitely more friendly and filled with similarly motivated people. I look forward to sharing with you guys and meeting others who are doing the same!
I would like to explain how to develop software with C#, but not use a console program as an example for this.
That's why I tried it with a graphical program. I'll start simple with Turtle graphics and at the end I want to have some kind of four-in-a-row game ready.
'Sup nerds! I have a friend with a daughter in 8th grade (about 13 years old) who wants to start learning how to #code. Any good suggestions for resources that would be suitably approachable? I'm nowhere near the education/hacker space so I don't know what all's out there these days. I doubt suggesting she start with the Rust guide would work. 😂
Both her parents (who will be the ones helping) have bachelors degrees in science but aren't programmers. Her dad is a wizard with Excel but rarely, if ever reaches for VBScript. I suspect he can learn along with her just fine but that's what it'll be.
Any resources y'all can provide would be great. I'll gather them up and pass along to my friend.