Beginning...Again

This weblog is about learning by doing. I'm using a tool to build this site that automatically creates RSS feeds (not that anybody uses RSS anymore) for the individual folders. If you are interested in what I've written about PHP for instance you'll find an RSS file under php/index.rss. The same will hold true for every path endpoint. Another place to look would be @joellimardo on Twitter (Mastodon and other accounts forthcoming).

This site is not new. In fact it was originally posted over seven years ago. A few things have changed cosmetically but the most notable is that the paths have changed. I used to allow mixed case in the URIs and now I have reduced that all to lower case. So if you have a very old link it will no longer work. I could go back an write a bunch of rewrite rules on my server for handle this but that content is so out of date that you probably should not be relying upon it anyway as-is.

Why..Why...Why...

I started this log after following the recommendations given in a talk by Burton Rast for self-education: create a project with a deadline, commit to teach the subject to others (similarly with a deadline), [I'm presuming use what you've learned] and solve a real-world problem you're passionate about.

A Word About Originality

The previous version of this site confused some people. They would e-mail trying to figure out how it all worked and why I was posting these things. In one instance a reader thought I was copying online material and reposting it here. That is not the case. However, I may find some topic online that I may want to write something about. That is not copying. It is an essential component of discussion and is generally needed in order to further knowledge and understanding.

Like Lots and Lots of CliffsNotes®

Learning computing science topics means that you sometimes are exposed to information out of order, that is out of date, or that is contestable. This is why some posts here are terse and there is typically heavy emphasis on REPL (read, evaluate, print, and loop) interactive tools. The motto here is 'get it, try it, log it, and review it again later on.' Every effort is made to make material clearer upon review but during the upstream (explained below) process there is no time for that.

Upstream and Downstream

I borrowed some terminology from my days in petrochemicals -- upstream means raw materials; downstream means finished products. This site's technical content is broken down into those categories which means you should expect things in upstream to be particularly 'gritty.' You have been warned.

A lot of older content from the previous site was of the 'upstream' variety so it will now go under that folder from now on.

/technical/alpha Permanent Link Project Sitemap Top  

Upstream

Upstream projects are mini-learning projects that one can follow to get familiar with a technology. They should be easy enough to follow by going to a folder, reading/following the exercise, and then clicking on the Project button on the lower right hand side of the post. This will bring you back to the project page so you can click on the next one.

/technical/upstream Permanent Link Project Sitemap Top