[erlang-questions] Ways to get started

[Jesper Louis Andersen]

On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 22:49, Joe Armstrong <erlang@REDACTED> wrote:
>
> Your brain is a zillion times better than the best IDE. programs
> form in you brain not in an IDE.
>

Very true. I often sit pondering on a problem. Ride the bike and
ponder on the problem. Play computer games while the brain ponders on
the problem unconsciously. Go see Rich Hickey's "Hammock Driven
Development",

http://blip.tv/clojure/hammock-driven-development-4475586

Then, as soon as the solution to the problem forms in the brain, it is
often a quick task of 10-15 minutes to write the 50-100 lines of code
which solves it. The only thing that makes the old guys seem to darn
effective at producing code is that they cheat. They have done it
before and they just have to alter small things to make it right. And
they know what code not to write (Code lines are spent, not produced -
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD10xx/EWD1036.html
).

The hard part of programming is to get the right solution. The tools
you use matter almost nothing as they usually don't help you get the
right solution.

The point in addition is focus. If you have focus on getting a git
repo on github, focus on configuring and installing rebar, focus on
getting an IDE - then you are not spending time on understanding
Erlang. A virtue I learned as a programmer is to keep focus on one
thing at a time. Whenever you are on a task and another thing you
should do pops up, write it down somewhere and ignore it for now. Our
brains, when we work, are not multi-core machines.

You can always go back and add a build system when the code you are
writing gets too big to handle as separate compiles. You can always
add Version Control later. Programs are like seeds. They are planted
and then they grow under nurture and care. Don't plan for the Giant
Sequoia when all you have is a sapling.

-- 
J.