Garrett Oreilly

Unfortunately, I don’t spend enough time coding. Most of my free time is invested in my girlfriend and playing TF2. As much as I am thankful for those investments, it upsets me that I spend hardly any time bettering myself as a programmer. Anyone who has seen my github knows that I haven’t worked on any projects or built anything. It is not something I am proud of and it is something I plan to change.

The only CS course I’m taking this semester is Language Study, in which we are focusing on Haskell, a functional language. Coming into it, I was excited; I had heard of it before, but never looked into it. I am now a week behind on the work and I’m having trouble understanding the paradigm of functional programming. Yes, it is bad, but not completely unexpected. In comparison to object-oriented programming, functional programming feels like doing art with my non-dominant hand. But that should be a good thing, no? Is it not bettering me to learn a different paradigm? As much as I hate it now, I have a feeling I will be a better programmer by the end of the course.

Ohkay, back to the original topic, spending time coding. Although I’m learning Haskell now, once I catch up on the work (and stay caught up), it may not be my focus. For a long time, I’ve wondered what language to work on and become proficient with. I’ve done Java and C++ in previous classes, but I would very much like to focus on a web-related language. Ruby seems to be popular amongst the upperclassmen here at Marist (as well as those I know that have graduated). However, a member of our Computer Society recently gave a presentation on Javascript that convinced me it was a better first choice. I’ve looked into Javascript on multiple occasions. I even started the Javascript course on Codecademy. After seeing the presentation though, I searched around and found some better-paced instructional material. Essentially, I need to spend more time coding. As of now, my plan of action is as follows:

• Catch up on Haskell work.
• Learn Javascript
• Build something with Javascript
• Learn Ruby (on Rails)
• Build something with Javascript and Ruby

I think dedicating time to coding will help me with my time management overall. We’ll see how it goes.

I’m going insane. It’s still in Shanghai!

It’s been a good holiday season so far. I participated in the Reddit Secret Santa, I was actually able to afford gifts for my parents, and I finally got started working on web development! The only thing I’m still waiting for is seeing my girlfriend on my birthday this Saturday.

But all of that aside, I am absolutely loving my new iPad. It will go well with my iPhone, and now I don’t have to lug my MacBook Pro to class everyday. It’s surprisingly easy to type on. I was expecting to have to hunt and type, but that’s not the case. The autocorrect is especially helpful when I’m off by a couple letters. I really think it will help me to be more productive. Multi-tasking on a tablet is much different then on a computer, so I think it will help me to stay focused. Now that I don’t have any morning classes and my new meds are keeping me on track, I’m really looking forward to what I think will be a “comeback-semester.”

I’m really enjoying web design so far! I have my own website now with which I will most likely advertise myself as I become more skilled in different fields. Looking at others’ work is always daunting because of how complicated it looks. Most of the time I underestimate the amount of work that needs to be put into web development. It seems like a lot of work for not much gain. I think that is why I still plan to go into iOS development. Not that I know anything of the work that goes into that yet. But I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on object-oriented programming. We’ll see what happens in time.

For a while I had my MacBook Pro listed on Craigslist. There were two reasons I wanted to sell it. First, it was a power house. I was not in need of the processing capabilities it provided. All I do is code, browse the web, and play Team Fortress 2. Carrying it to class to take notes was like using an F1 to get to a 9 to 5 shift. That brings me to my second reason; it was no lightweight. It often became painful for my shoulder to carry it in my messenger bag. Aside from the weight, I’m not a fan of big computers. When I first got it, it was my geek dream. Once that novelty wore off, its size and weight became irksome.

So, two or three months after I listed my Pro, I got my first serious offer. I took it. I then ordered a 13” MacBook Air, which should be arriving by post in a couple days. Until then, I have my iPad and iPhone to keep me company. These next couple days are going to seem pretty long.

Also, I got a new Apple ID. Long story short, I managed to change my ID into a .mac account which I do not, nor have I ever had. Any emails that Apple sends me are sent to an email address I don’t own and, I’m quite certain, doesn’t exist. So, with this MacBook Air, I will start anew. Repurchasing all of my iPhone and iPad apps on the new account is going to be fun.