Python is Number 1

I saw a weird statistic in one study today. Python is now the number one language being used by colleges to teach entry level computer science classes. Phillip Guo took a look at the top 40 colleges. He researched what the intro computer science classes use to teach programming. Surprisingly, Python is number 1.


Of course Java comes in second place. I thought that Java would still be king for instructional teaching. I might be showing my age. But I remember when they taught you Fortran in the beginner engineering classes. And I think computer science used Pascal. Then they probably went to C and C++.


The real question is whether Python is a good language to learn computer science with. I know Python is easy to get started with. However I think I am still partial to Pascal. It felt pure. Let you concentrate on the theory and not get bogged down in the language.

Challenge Accepted

I did eventually purchase a copy of Windows 8. Installed it on my old laptop. Downloaded a digital copy straight from Microsoft. Then I installed Visual Studio and was off to the races to develop some Windows 8 apps.

At first I thought I might try to write the apps with JavaScript. After all, I had recently taken a few classes on JavaScript. However it was not intuitive to me on just how to do that. So instead I fell back on my tried and true C++ programming skills. I decided to write my apps in C++.

In all I wrote ten Windows 8 apps. I think two of them were rejected my Microsoft. I contested some of the other rejections and got those apps published. Most of my apps are casual ones that cost a few bucks. I did write a couple enterprise apps that cost more money. Still trying to find buyers for them though.

Windows 8 Apps

Microsoft has create a reward for publishing either a Windows 8 or Windows phone app. You get a $100 Visa gift card for each app you publish by the end of June. Whoa. They are really in need of a lot of apps. Looks like they also don't care much about the quality. Poor Microsoft. I did not know they were hurting so bad. I guess in comparison to Apple or Android, they app store is severely lacking.

Okay Microsoft. I might be able to help you out. I mean I can code up some C++ programs, right? Well it is not that easy. Initially I tried to locate a book on developing Windows 8 apps with C++. My local library had no such book. Only 1 book in the entire state looked remotely related. I put in an order for it.

I tried to download some free books. Got one about Windows 8 in general. Found another that was about writing Windows 8 apps, but it was specific to using JavaScript. I read a few chapters of the JavaScript book. Determined I really want to hold out for C++ implementations. Finally I Googled around and located some books about writing Windows 8 apps in C++. However reviews of some of these books indicate the quality is low.

I did fire up Visual Studio 2010 running under Windows 7 to see if I could create an app for Windows 8. There were no templates for any such projects. Then I finally found some material on MSDN that I was looking for. First thing I needed to do was download Visual Studio 2012 for Windows 8. Got it. But when I tried to install the thing, it complained that I was not running Windows 8. Darn. Now I regret the choice I made when I purchased my laptop. I could have got a copy of Windows 8 at a nominal charge. I opted to stick with Windows 7. Short term thinking I guess.

The next step is to purchase Windows 8. Then I can work through the example and get down to business writing Windows 8 apps. Might not make the Microsoft deadline. However the real goal is to be able to produce an app that passes Microsoft tests and gets featured in the Windows 8 app store. Good luck to me.

Java Acronym City

I went to a job search site. Looked up Java programming positions close to my house. The listing were filled with buzzwords. I guess Java is so much more than a programming language. You got to know some libraries, frameworks, and a whole suite of technology that goes along with it. I came late to the Java party. Initially I thought there was no need to learn Java. C++ gave me everything I needed. Now I am not so sure.

I took some community college courses on Java programming. The intro course was a disappointment. I kept asking questions in class. But I didn't really get many answers. Finally the instructor told me he did not know Java. He was teaching the course because nobody else wanted to teach it. Great. I learned some Java that semester. However it was a disappointment.

My intermediate Java college course was a whole different experience. It was taught by a guy who was deep into Java. There was hardly a question he could not answer. And when the rare instance came where he did not immediately know, he could get the answer for me quickly. Oh I learned a lot during that semester. Good stuff like network programming, database programming, collections, etc.

Back to the buzzword bingo. I figure I should at learn determine what the acronyms in the Java universe mean. Here are some that I found during my job listing search. These are the ones that kept popping up on job requirements:

• JSP
• EJB
• JMS
• JDBC
• JAXB
• J2EE
• MVC
• JBOSS
• XML

There were also many technologies listed that were not acronyms. The most popular were:

• Servlet
• Struts
• Spring
• Maven
• Web Services
• Eclipse
• Hibernate
• Tomcat
• Apache

Luckily I know what some of these are. Took a whole semester course on XML. Did a week or so on JSPs and JDBC. We touched on Servlets a little. And I have used Eclipse but it is not my favorite IDE. Played with Tomcat/Apache. There is still a whole lot to learn. And that's just the most popular buzzwords. So little time.