Writing and Programming: More alike than you may think (Part 3)

This is the last of three posts about some of the similarities I’ve noticed between writing and programming. You can catch yourself up by reading part 1 and part 2.

As I’ve mentioned in both of the previous posts, I’m not trying to make linguistic and programming codes the same thing. And I’m not trying to force some sort of artificial connection between the two.  What I am trying to do is bring together principles from both that might allow us to understand each of them better.

Programming code and linguistic code are undeniably distinct. We can’t compare Ruby or Java to English in the same way we can compare French or Tagalog to Russian.  There’s a big difference, right? But fundamentally, isn’t the purpose of both programming and linguistic codes to do something for a human being? They communicate messages, provide information, enable actions.

Writing and Programming: More alike than you may think (Part 2)

Over the past year or so, I’ve become keenly interested in the connections between technology and the humanities. Why do we persist in separating the two?  Are they really so foreign that they can’t be brought together?  What can we carry over from one discipline to improve the other? How can we begin to blend the lines of distinction between the two disciplines to strengthen what we do as writers, usability researchers, designers, or developers?

These are huge questions to tackle, and I can’t even come close to scratching the surface. But I do have a few ideas of my own, based on my personal experience over the past 6 or 7 years moving back and forth between the two camps.

Yesterday I began a list that presents some of the similarities I’ve noticed between programming and writing.  This post is the second half of that list.

Writing and Programming: More alike than you may think (Part 1)

I always have such ambitious plans for the semester breaks: books to read finish, lesson plans to revamp, furniture to refurb (finally gave up on that one–can someone just take me to Ikea?), trips to take, people to see… sleep to catch up on (Yeah. Right).

Maybe I need to look up the definition of “break.”

Along with a laundry list of other things, one item on my summer to-do list is learning Ruby on Rails. I am frustrated to realize that I remember precious little about object-oriented programming (Uh, what’s a class again?), so I’ve basically resigned myself to starting back at square one.  I’m trying to convince myself that this is a good thing.

While working with Ruby this past week, I started noticing several core principles that can apply to any type of programming language.  I grabbed a sheet of paper, and as I continued to work, I started jotting them down.  As the list grew, I suddenly realized that these were all things I already knew… based on my background writing and teaching writing.

I’m not going to make the argument that computer programming codes and linguistic codes (writing) are the same thing. Clearly they’re not. But the writing processes of  programming languages and human languages actually might have more in common than you think.

Lendle: New Kind of Book-Borrowing

 

Bought a Kindle book that’s just been sitting there since you finished it? Lend it out! Lendle.com is a book sharing site that allows you to lend out and borrow Kindle books–for free!

Lendle.com is based on the idea of “share-and-share-alike,” so you can’t actually borrow books unless you’re willing to lend out some of your books, as well. But it all sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. You earn “credits” for each book you lend out. Once the credit adds up to $10, you can spend it at Amazon.com.

Hmmm… sounds like I’ve found a way to help fund my Amazon.com habit!

Check out Lendle’s FAQ page for more info.

 

Image Source: Flickr, Adrian Short

The Beauty of Interdisciplinarity: Moving Between Two Cultures

Image source: “Interdisciplinary Crosstalk“

Lately, I’ve been reading Go To: The Story of the Math Majors, Bridge Players, Engineers, Chess Wizards, Maverick Scientists and Iconoclasts–the Programmers who created the software revolution by Steve Lohr (2001).

Why on earth would an English PhD student read something like this? 

I mentioned several posts ago that my background is kind of whacky. I’ve never felt quite “at home” in any one department.  I’m like the friend who “couch-surfs” from house-to-house. I could crash anywhere and fit in for a while…but moving in permanently is out of the question. (Probably not the most flattering description, but I think it serves its purpose.)

How To: Create a Spotlight Using Skitch

If a picture’s worth a thousand words, Skitch has helped me save several thousand. At least.

I’ve been using Skitch as a quick and easy way to create help guides. It’s come in handy when I’m trying to explain something to students over email–like setting Word document margins, accessing library resources, or finding something on ULearn.

There are lots of great screen capturing tools out there, but for the absolute basics, Skitch works in a pinch.  No crazy options or settings. Just a clean, no-fuss interface.

This How-To post explains how to create a spotlight using Skitch in just 5 easy steps.