Ruby begins a new day and on my Rails track

After P2PU's atypical start on coding
Codecademy's nuturing
and meeting strange but awesome, non-traditional coding teachers
I have been touched
HTML
CCS
Javascript
Python
Ruby
and
Ruby on Rails


Wow that is quite a bit of Coding Basics. The dim sum bites of my codes have shot up. I will start to post more resources here on this blog. More cultural (including Silicon Valley lifestyle) experiences here:

http://theoptips.wordpress.com

More "Pinterest-like" resources here:
http://snip.it/collections/29996-Coding-for-dummies

Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/theoptips
Git & GitHub explained in simple terms :
http://youtu.be/RHoqdsyL3-U

And as I learn more, I will summarize it here on this blog for non coders.

One very basic coding friend asked me to explain to her in metaphors how the different languages are and how they come together. I synthesized all I have learnt from my developer friends and came up with the following (they are not the best, but they are easier to understand, and it was an important point for her)

Front-end languages deal with more how the websites look, how pretty or interactive they are
- e.g.  HTML, CSS, Javascript
"Midware" Back-end languages connect the front-end view with more of the engines, database, and back-end of a web application
- e.g. PHP, Ruby, Python
- some are more object-oriented (think an Object is like a cube, Objects that are similar to the cube, under the same class may have some similar characteristics, methods or functions that can easily be carried over, making coding simpler), some are script languages like Python which makes doing repeatable tasks easier, really that's what programming languages are meant to be, they can also be more algorithm heavy
Framework
- e.g. Ruby on Rails, Django
- think this as the architectural guideline of how to code with a specific language, e.g. Rails is based on Ruby, that will make things easier
Database languages : allows the front-end to talk to or extract info from the database, create new transaction rows etc...
- SQL
- Rails architecture helps developers avoid dealing with this in too much details.
- MongoDB, not a language per say, more like the new way of storing data like Ruby+Rails, no longer relational (SQL is more relational, think almost a complex form of multiple Excel sheets, but MongoDB is more like MapReduce than otherwise, which is quite quite different from just a relational language)
Git, GitHub
- Git is like version control for codes. Imagine it like a Microsoft Word it saves and stores different versions of your code, and then you can retrieve an earlier version if something goes wrong
-GitHub is social coding, allows you to share your codes online via git push to online format, so that other people can view and build on top of your code

Maybe this isn't metaphoric enough, well then try the Poigant Guide to Ruby, which is completely written in amazing non-sense, but fairly easy to understand. Think it as a terrible yet useful poetry written to explain Ruby. Read it fast. It is quite an insider sensation/joke.

To obtain the book. Google it in PDF, and read it for free. Warning, you have to bear to read a lot of non-sense.

P2PU Challenge Domain Name System

What is a domain name system (DNS)?

How stuff works explains it in a very good graph

I was very confused by the Wikipedia explanation but here's how someone simple minded like me understand it. DNS serves as a host of a "dictionary", this dictionary maps the IP address to a domain name and vice versa to help people locate the correct website.

Here's what I also learnt : 

I registered http://www.mashbean.com

I plan to "hack" it and link it to this blogspot soon. May be later one I will chain it to a WordPress or a personal website regarding my personal portfolio. 

Like button 3D Printing Fun

Like button with a trophy base. Cut off the hand, place it vertically in the slot.

via TinkerCAD.com

Mike Olson's awesome layman's explanation of MapReduce Hadoop Yay big data mgmt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9xnYBVqLws

Ultimate NoSQL guide
http://nosql-database.org/

The secret life of 3D printing

To award our best volunteer and also best customer, I proceeded to design a 3D badge (a materialized social badge yay!!) for both of them. Technical difficult made me essentially print the same one for both. I look forward to see Shapeways materials in gold plated, basics (prototype), and more. The actually design took 3 hours on TinkerCAD, but the trouble shooting and Tinkering took another 3 hours. Totally worth it.

The lines that you see were originally supposed to be holes and carve ins so we can style up the letter. Unfortunately the TinkerCAD rendering wasn't perfect for it and Shapeways and iMaterialise didn't pick the changes up either then we went for all solid with minimum hole structures.

Fun experience will make more but not until I see these in person.

Real world tag hunting

The bogus request from P2PU to hunt for HTML tags in real life has yielded a lot of good thoughts. My first impression was that this is stupid. Then I commented :

i had more troubles with this assignment than learning a whole week of HTML I am super impressed with what people came up with and realized that through this assignment I am also more consciously aware of HTML and have a stronger inner connection. Lolol wtf... but yeah seemingly "stupid" but awesome assignment

End up being all spiritual about it... Lolz I realize my inner HTML is really Spam Musubi a great snack food totally unhealthy but totally delicious is probably a fusion food invented in Hawaii. When I was visiting friends in Davis, I ate a lot at the fast food eatery Ohana. 

Why? Look at this it is an image <img> , <div> is the rice, spam, seaweed is overall (<html>). Or may be the whole <html> is the entirety of the food, and the onions are the styling <style>. rice is the  <p>... I can go on and on. Or may be you look at these two together they are a <ol>  <li>

Gosh then I can only imagine what it would be for Sushi platter!! Holy molly. All the contents definitely have styling declaration too~~

P2PU what have you done to my brain!??? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Updated August 2, a new post on Flat UI in Teabags.

Javascript Basics

Prototype explained by blog authors:
From WordPress http://javascriptweblog.wordpress.com
http://javascriptweblog.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/understanding-javascript-prototypes/