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Fun with Coding
Mar. 4th, 2014 02:17 amWell apart from my birthday last week - I am now the answer to life, the universe and everything, i.e 42 (though I could argue this has always been the case... :) ) - the big event was starting the nifty FutureLearn android programming course. Which I saved til my actual birthday, and nicely stuffed with Chinese takeaway made for a pleasantly geeky evening of installing and poking things.
I like the way the course is set out, its done with videos but also very detailed written instructions and many screenshots and helpful links, though the two don't always dovetail - having downloaded the android development kit, which took bloody ages on my ultra-slow connection and got that unzipped and installed along with the java thing, and then getting the extra bits nobody tells you about (kudos to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ganimede for alerting me to that part!) I was doing quite well following the text and pictures. Until the pictures no longer matched what I was seeing, you had to copy and past the game code into notepad, or so it seemed. Turned out the screenshot was from notepad ++ which is a very cool extra program that displays the code in helpful colours and with proper layout, unlike bog standard notepad which, er, doesn't. Still, once I'd watched the video to that point and realised what was needed I did ok. Cue one emulator up and running, and not too slowly either, I shudder to think how bad it would have been on a decade old machine...
They've given us the final game, a rather clunky looking thing where you shoot a ball at larger balls up the screen to score, but then you go back to the most basic elements of the code and build up from there. I think this is a good approach, because you know what you're aiming for and then just construct the code bit by bit with a clear goal in sight. And the best bit is you can get that very simple section - a red ball that follows your finger on a green background - actually working on your android phone, by the simple method of emailing it to yourself. Have to admit I was expecting something more complicated than that, but I was so chuffed to have it there on my phone, even if I'd done very little independently to achieve that!
This week we've learnt about basic variables and operators and how to use the debugging feature, with a handy printout guide for future reference: none of this is very challenging but there's lots of windows and buttons and options so a bit of visual reference is handy. The variables and things are familiar to me from previous attempts to learn to code, and even the maths bits didn't put me off too much (wish my kneejerk reaction to numbers wasn't instant panic as I'm perfectly capable of solving simple formulae and working through very obvious code), and then they said, "right, do this and then that with the code." Wah! Where did my handholding go to? I got the first bit ok, but the second one is eluding me, despite many helpful comments from others - every page has room for comments and questions with students and mentors interacting which is encouraging. Oh and we were also shown where to change the graphics and some of the more creative types have fancy backgrounds and images and folk are using quite complex coding. I'm just fumbling along with a plain red ball on a green background for now, I want to get the hang of the code before I start making it all shiny and pretty. Er, also have yet to re-install my graphics program, have located it on the backup drive, said drive will not talk to main PC, though it will work happily with the netbook, So that's the next thing I guess, but I was more keen to do the course bit than the transferring files around bit.
Yay being a geek even if only a baby one thus far :)
I like the way the course is set out, its done with videos but also very detailed written instructions and many screenshots and helpful links, though the two don't always dovetail - having downloaded the android development kit, which took bloody ages on my ultra-slow connection and got that unzipped and installed along with the java thing, and then getting the extra bits nobody tells you about (kudos to
ganimede for alerting me to that part!) I was doing quite well following the text and pictures. Until the pictures no longer matched what I was seeing, you had to copy and past the game code into notepad, or so it seemed. Turned out the screenshot was from notepad ++ which is a very cool extra program that displays the code in helpful colours and with proper layout, unlike bog standard notepad which, er, doesn't. Still, once I'd watched the video to that point and realised what was needed I did ok. Cue one emulator up and running, and not too slowly either, I shudder to think how bad it would have been on a decade old machine...They've given us the final game, a rather clunky looking thing where you shoot a ball at larger balls up the screen to score, but then you go back to the most basic elements of the code and build up from there. I think this is a good approach, because you know what you're aiming for and then just construct the code bit by bit with a clear goal in sight. And the best bit is you can get that very simple section - a red ball that follows your finger on a green background - actually working on your android phone, by the simple method of emailing it to yourself. Have to admit I was expecting something more complicated than that, but I was so chuffed to have it there on my phone, even if I'd done very little independently to achieve that!
This week we've learnt about basic variables and operators and how to use the debugging feature, with a handy printout guide for future reference: none of this is very challenging but there's lots of windows and buttons and options so a bit of visual reference is handy. The variables and things are familiar to me from previous attempts to learn to code, and even the maths bits didn't put me off too much (wish my kneejerk reaction to numbers wasn't instant panic as I'm perfectly capable of solving simple formulae and working through very obvious code), and then they said, "right, do this and then that with the code." Wah! Where did my handholding go to? I got the first bit ok, but the second one is eluding me, despite many helpful comments from others - every page has room for comments and questions with students and mentors interacting which is encouraging. Oh and we were also shown where to change the graphics and some of the more creative types have fancy backgrounds and images and folk are using quite complex coding. I'm just fumbling along with a plain red ball on a green background for now, I want to get the hang of the code before I start making it all shiny and pretty. Er, also have yet to re-install my graphics program, have located it on the backup drive, said drive will not talk to main PC, though it will work happily with the netbook, So that's the next thing I guess, but I was more keen to do the course bit than the transferring files around bit.
Yay being a geek even if only a baby one thus far :)
