A Dev Environment for the Returning Geek?

InsurgentGeek asks: "I'm about 25 years into my career in technology. Over that time, I've done the standard progression from developer to architect to team leader to program leader to business unit leader. While I've stayed up to date on general technology trends (perhaps more than about 95% of my peer group) - I have started to really miss hands on coding - something I haven't done for almost 20 years. It's not for my job, and I don't plan to make any money at it - but I'd like to get back to coding on at least a recreational basis. Here's the rub: what are the right tools?" "'Back in the day...' you had about 2-3 choices of languages and perhaps the same number of OS's. There were not frameworks, API's, development environments, etc. I'd like to pick a toolkit and learn it. My goals are pretty simple: I want to write applications that have a great look & feel that will primarily be pulling information from the web (think weather & news), play with that information and present it in interesting ways. I'd like those applications to be usable on the Linux and perhaps Mac OS X platforms. I'm not a complete non-techie. I use Linux at home, have set up all the toys like Squid and BIND - but this is just administration. I need to get back into the guts of the machine. If you were me where would you start? What language(s) would you want to become conversant in? What do I have to worry about beyond the choice of the language itself? What frameworks? What other tools?"

Comments

Indeed

[SilverspurG]

Programming is like anything else. It's like exercise. It demands time.

If you lack the extra time to spend with it then you're better off picking up the newest and hottest environments like Java and Enlightenment. There will be more people starting around the same place that you are and will provide a group of knowledge to answer questions and exchange ideas.

If you have the extra time then pick up fundamentals. Use Debian. Install from a five year old release and upgrade it manually while focusing your attention on the parts of the OS which your desired application will interact with. Maybe you can already do this. Read their documentation. Learn how they work. Learn a fundamental language and learn how to use it for the toolkits which you want to use.

It's a tough task. Getting back into programming after 20 years of no hands-on work will seem like a chore at first. With enough time it can become a routine. With more time it can become a hobby. WIth more time it can become a desire. With more time it can become a pursuit. With the right social connections it can become a venture. Notice the significant dependence on time. Not an hour here and there but good 6 hour daily blocks of time. Don't expect to do much cooking.

I'm trying the same thing. I wrote a system installer in BASH that went through the normal stages of development and evolved for five years part time. Now I'm beginning to practice C. I'd like to rewrite my system installer in C. This will allow me to learn the APIs and protocols for system devices. The tough part has been that my employment has been in research science (chemistry) and highly computer unrelated. Shifting the brain to programming takes time away from actual programming.