Absolutely. Ruby 1.8 contains a C extension (Syck) for parsing YAML. Benchmarks have shown that Ruby's YAML parser is competitive with the marshalling standards of other popular languages. Which is a big win for developers, as YAML is much more readable.
I will also mention that if you'd like to learn YAML, you might head over to the YAML Wiki, where general documentation is starting. There's also a complete manual for the Ruby extension.
A thanks to those who sent personal stories about how they learned to code. Kind of fun to read about. Didn't expect the amount of responses, of course.
With all the comments that have been posted, it seems a lot of you believe there is no problem. That there are a wealth of intriguing technologies for kids who want to find them. Which is true. Kids can build websites. Kids can hack Hotmail. Kids can mod games.
I still feel like we haven't cracked the door open on mainstream coding. I believe a majority of humans could learn to code. How many students are required to take math, chemistry, physics? Could programming become a commonly taught skill?
Many of you have suggested that the job market would die. Are you kidding me? The job market for programmers would undoubtedly swell. More using the Web, more understanding the need for software, more purchasing software to help their casual coding. Better yet, the more who understand how to code, the fewer people have to say they are "computer illiterate!" Instead, clients could possibly have a better understanding and appreciation of the things we do.
Let's push coding to the mainstream. There are those among us who can influence the world to make such a thing happen. I believe it could be well worth it.
Talby: They are a body of asteroids that
make a complete circuit of the
universe once every 12.3 trillion
years. The Phoenix Asteroids... From
what I've heard, Doolittle, they
glow... glow with all the colors of
the rainbow. Nobody knows why. They
just glow as they drift around the
universe. Imagine all the sights
they've seen in the time they've
been travelling -- the birth and
death of stars, things we'll never
see. The universe is alive,
Doolittle. I thought it was all
empty, but it isn't. In between the
stars, it's seething with light and
gasses and dust. There are little
pebbles drifting around, planets no
one on Earth has ever seen... No one
but the Phoenix Asteroids...
You simply can't beat four completely pissed and mindless guys in beards and afros trying to find some solace in the universe.
YAML: http://www.yaml.org/
YAML Cookbook: http://yaml4r.sf.net/cookbook
Take a look at YAML. If you've done XML work, you'll see a million great uses for it.
It's very simple to learn, rather speedy to
parse, and gaining implementations in the Ruby,
Python and Perl communities.
Slashdot Mirror
What's Shiny and New in Ruby 1.8.0?
Absolutely. Ruby 1.8 contains a C extension (Syck) for parsing YAML. Benchmarks have shown that Ruby's YAML parser is competitive with the marshalling standards of other popular languages. Which is a big win for developers, as YAML is much more readable.
I will also mention that if you'd like to learn YAML, you might head over to the YAML Wiki, where general documentation is starting. There's also a complete manual for the Ruby extension.
Ah, this is fantastic idea! I had the same experience learning C when I was ten. An ANSI tutorial that explained things interactively.
Someone push this comment to the top. It's not about treating kids like idiots. Just giving as much of a boost as you can. Thanks, Bayle.
A thanks to those who sent personal stories about how they learned to code. Kind of fun to read about. Didn't expect the amount of responses, of course.
With all the comments that have been posted, it seems a lot of you believe there is no problem. That there are a wealth of intriguing technologies for kids who want to find them. Which is true. Kids can build websites. Kids can hack Hotmail. Kids can mod games.
I still feel like we haven't cracked the door open on mainstream coding. I believe a majority of humans could learn to code. How many students are required to take math, chemistry, physics? Could programming become a commonly taught skill?
Many of you have suggested that the job market would die. Are you kidding me? The job market for programmers would undoubtedly swell. More using the Web, more understanding the need for software, more purchasing software to help their casual coding. Better yet, the more who understand how to code, the fewer people have to say they are "computer illiterate!" Instead, clients could possibly have a better understanding and appreciation of the things we do.
Let's push coding to the mainstream. There are those among us who can influence the world to make such a thing happen. I believe it could be well worth it.
Talby: They are a body of asteroids that make a complete circuit of the universe once every 12.3 trillion years. The Phoenix Asteroids... From what I've heard, Doolittle, they glow... glow with all the colors of the rainbow. Nobody knows why. They just glow as they drift around the universe. Imagine all the sights they've seen in the time they've been travelling -- the birth and death of stars, things we'll never see. The universe is alive, Doolittle. I thought it was all empty, but it isn't. In between the stars, it's seething with light and gasses and dust. There are little pebbles drifting around, planets no one on Earth has ever seen... No one but the Phoenix Asteroids...
You simply can't beat four completely pissed and mindless guys in beards and afros trying to find some solace in the universe.
Dark Star will be discovered.
YAML: http://www.yaml.org/ YAML Cookbook: http://yaml4r.sf.net/cookbook Take a look at YAML. If you've done XML work, you'll see a million great uses for it. It's very simple to learn, rather speedy to parse, and gaining implementations in the Ruby, Python and Perl communities.