dwong

I'm interested in learning a mobile development platform and wondering whether I should learn iOS or Android. Which one has a more active market for developers now, and what's the future outlook for each? I've done a good amount of programming before, just not for mobile.

I also don't have a preference between Java and Objective-C.

There's been a lot of talk about dropping out lately. However, one thing I've been seeing is people talking about how it sucks to be 30-40 and not have a degree and have to make excuses for it.

I'm surprised at this. If you have 10-15 years of programming experience, why would anyone still care if you have a degree? To me, it would seem like it would matter less as you got older.

Can anyone comment or provide insight? Thanks.

I've been reading through source code for various programs to get better at programming. I know that many of the people here also do this.

I'm wondering what your approach is when you're trying to learn from source code (not debug, but reading it to get better at programming). Do you go line by line, follow a top-level function call, etc? Also, if you're familiar with the syntax, do you quickly skim over boilerplate code to be more efficient?

Thanks for any advice. Trying to speed up my learning process.

I'm trying to get a basic idea of what the legal situation would be here.

If I started a SaaS business (i.e, monthly subscription for a web application), and later got a job, would the employer have rights to code updates to the web application? (and thus partial rights to the application)

How can I continue to run a web application business that I developed previously, if I become employed? Thanks for any advice.

I'm trying to choose a framework to learn and have been looking at web2py. It seems to be a solid framework that comes with a lot of built-in features and easy deployment, and I like it better than Django and Rails.

I'm wondering why web2py seems to have a relatively small community compared to Django and Rails. Does it have problems that I'm not aware of?

Would the lack of a large community hurt significantly? I'm also interested in freelancing, and learning Rails seems like it would be the better choice for that. Thanks for any advice.

So I come from a writing background, and programming and writing have turned out to be very similar. I'm wondering how many of you write outlines for large projects, and how much time you spend on these outlines/how detailed these outlines are.

Do you write an outline in pseudocode, or an outline detailing the class/object relationships? Any insight or advice would be great.

This is something I've been wondering about for a while. How many of you have tried a low pay/low stress job or lifestyle and liked it? I'm talking about pretty low pay, like working as a waiter at a restaurant.

My parents have always pushed me toward the impressive jobs, so I'm curious about how "bad" (or not bad) these lower-salary jobs are. I like intellectually stimulating things, but I can see myself enjoying a relaxed 9 to 5 drudgery job for a few years. I don't plan to do it forever, just while I work things out and maybe develop a client base as a freelancer.

I feel like my parents have conditioned my thinking in a restricted way, and would like you guys to possibly provide me with a different perspective. Thanks for any advice and experience.

I'm wondering if there's a Hacker News type site for marketing. I've found a few forums for design.

Browsing forums seems to help me learn through osmosis. Are there any quality forums that discuss marketing?

Hi, I'm a college freshman planning to major in computer science. I hadn't really programmed before college. The summer before, I read through an intro Python book and learned basic HTML/CSS. I enjoyed my intro course taught in Java, and will be taking a course in Scheme next semester. I also plan to start learning Django next semester.

I want to learn more about software development over summer. I'm wondering whether I should look for an internship, or study/build stuff on my own. Programming seems to be a field where I can learn a lot from watching someone do it, but I'm worried that I'll be assigned repetitive work in an internship and learn little.

Would you guys recommend for me to find an internship or learn and try to contribute to open source projects on my own? Thanks for any advice.

Hackernews seems to focus on the applications of programming to a limited area (mostly start-ups that deal with disrupting social media, sharing, entertainment, etc.)

I haven't seen much discussion of how computer science can be used to disrupt fields like science, energy, medicine, etc..

I'm wondering if you guys have any suggestions for websites that discuss the application of computer science to a broader scope of fields.

I'm a computer science student. Programming and IT change very fast, and constant learning is required to keep up.

However, I'm wondering about how a programmer would try to "future-proof" his CS knowledge. Is it more important to learn the math, algorithms, and logic instead of focusing primarily on languages?

What are the trends you guys see in computer science right now? What knowledge will still be valuable in the future, 30-50 years from now?

I'm a college student who's debating the value of college economics classes. I didn't like the AP economics class I took in high school. It seemed too idealized and non-applicable.

I'm wondering what you guys think about the value of economics classes in college, especially for pursuits related to entrepreneurship. If it matters, I'm attending a top 10 school.