So are computer languages technically languages we can post? LIke I would love to learn C++, but I'm too poor to go buy a book. And I'm learning CSS, but I'm willing to teach people. Comments?

It'd probably be doable, but might not be practical through the forum. Just googling for 'C++ tutorials' or something usually works, and online tutorials have a tendency to have nifty reference bits built in, so you can learn the basics from the tutorial and fill in gaps and learn more with the reference bit.

If you're learning CSS is it safe to assume you're doing web based stuff? Learning PHP instead of C++ might be a better plan since PHP is mainly used as a web scripting language and its quite similar to C/C++ (syntax wise) but much less fussy over the small details and therefore far easier to learn. Also php.net has a damn good reference bit with user comments too.

Try these:
cplusplus.com for a C++ tutorial and reference guide.
webmonkey.com for great web language tutorials including PHP and lots of other stuff.

</geekyness>

I'd like to learn C. It would really help me out since I'm trying to get into Linux, but I've just been too lazy to get a book.

There was a computer language thread in here a while ago, it got moved to Daft.

Wasnt that binary and l337 though, which is far more daft than this thead.

A "computer language" is not a language in the sense that English and French and Japanese are, which is the purpose of this forum. You're asking for advice, and Daily Life is usually the place for that, so I'll be moving this thread now.

I'm not seriously suggesting we do this, but considering the Geek presence on here, we could almost consider adding a Techie Stuff forum .. questions, answers, and lots of geeky goodness

I could get you kicked off the force for subversive language like that, McMurphy.

My girlfriend already says that I'm 'king of the geeks' (which I deny), I don't think there's any need to further fuel her accusations!

Oh well... Does anyone else think that this would be a good idea? I'm not sure if there would be enough content in it. Computer games are already covered quite well in the media section. Is there a great deal of programming anyone wants to talk about?

And in answer to the original post, I agree with Moop. If you're learning web stuff then PHP is a far more useful language to learn. I know you said you can't afford books but try getting Foundation Dreamweaver MX 2004 (published by Friends of ED) out from the library. It is mainly about Dreamweaver admittedly, but the first section is all about making a site with CSS and the second section teaches you about applying PHP to the site you made during the first one. It's very readable and extremely instructive, and makes learning PHP about as interesting as it is possible for it to be.

I wouldn't mind a geek section. As there is a fair technical presence on the forum (or at least there seems to be)... and sharing ideas and problems in that area can only be a good thing...

Then again like Mata my gf has called me 'geeky von geekface' before.

Surely the fact that you have girlfriends negates the possibility of you being geeks?

No dude, we geeks are great in bed. Seriously. Also, women talk about how they want to meet intelligent men? We're right here! We're attending gaming conventions and getting Neil Gaiman to sign our books! You will know us by our Megatokyo t-shirts!

Here's the logic for why geeks make great lovers...

Confront a geek with a particularly knotty IT problem. They'll happily spend hours noodling around, trying various things, hacking this and that until they fully understand the system, and can manipulate it to fix the problem.

Now, consider if you will a metaphor. Think of genatalia as a particulary bizarre system, with a mysterious interface. What does the geek do when confronted with an unfamiliar interface? Press buttons and see what happens. Experiment. Quickly figure out what buttons do what, then avoid the ones that make the system crash, and swiftly master the ones that do great things until the interface becomes second nature.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why geeks make great lovers.

It's also why they pull so rarely, because they keep on describing things such as their partner's genitalia in terms of mysterious interfaces.

Oh darling, can I give your hard-drive a good de-fragging tonight?

And here's the logic why geeks are single -

They would much rather press the buttons on the computer then notice their scantily clad girlfriend trying to get their attention from the candlelit bedroom where she has set up the rubber sheeting, baby oil and various naughty fruits.

*note - as specific as that sounds, this has never happened to me*

I get the feeling I should be taking notes.

LOL! good one. *grin*

Excuse me ....

Geeks are the new god's. Jonmans point is utterly valid. Not 'point'. Point. They also pull, because they are considered useful and get to meet wild arrays of people, including the kind of chick you would only really expect to see at an airport, or in a magazine.

You geek-bashers are talking about nerds. Do I have to explain the difference between a geek and a nerd again? ... in a nutshell, a geek is a nerd with a social life. You can tell the world that.


The tech forum, as an embryo of an idea, wouldnt be so much to talk tech, more like to merge resources and help the un-geeky, of which there still are some. Only menbers can post, so it would be an in-house thing, and the search engines would love it ... Tech-talk allowed, i suppose, obviously ... But it allows an answer to the question "I can't hear sound on my computer. Do I ask in Issues, Media, Daft or Daily life? .. it sure ain't a site-fault report ... Gosh .. look at that pab ... he sure is sexy .. I bet he's great in bed.." and so on ...

I feel I ought to apologise to eleraama, my innocent misguided query lead to the hijacking of his/her thread. Sorry.

No, please, by all means. This is far more amusing than
{
fprint "Hello, world"
}

EDIT: Here you go! The New Thread: Geeky Goodness!

People don't seem to be understanding the Geeky Goodness thread. Possibly because it's in Daft, which is generally for silly, mindless fun of the non-geeky/nerdy variety.

I think a techie section would work. It'd get at least as many posts as the Non-English forums. Probably more, honestly. And it'd be good for questions like the one that started this thread.

I'm all for a techie/geek forum. The least we could do is try it out. If it proves to be completely dead/unpopular, we can just phase it out again, right? Sounds like an idea to me.

Okay, you've got it!

But Mata, you do realise that defragging isn't fun to watch anymore? All those hours of enjoyment RUINED BY MICROSOFT! (only people who watch defragging will understand this).

Eyargh. You know, I've been reminding myself that I need to get my harddrive defragged lately. Then I read Mata's comment, and spat my soup out all over my keyboard. So now I need a good defragging and a new non-soupy keyboard.

*walks away from topic, with eyebrow raised*

I read this this a few times now, coz it keeps making me laugh. -whenever somone says the word 'defragg' again I shall be thinking of sex. it's probably a good thing I'm not attending any computer courses at the moment.