Ronynn's Blog Overthinking Analytically - Game Development, Tech, Productivity & Writing

Link: Ronynn's Blog Overthinking Analytically - Game Development, Tech, Productivity & Writing: "Explore Ronynn's insights on game development, tech, productivity, and writing."

Attached is an article that is guaranteed to be clickbait for my people. Certainly for me! I use both Ruby and Python. Lately more python because the stuff I am working on uses Python. And let’s face it Python is, generally speaking, a more mainstream language. I don’t find the arguments made in the attached article especially compelling. I would say that Ruby and Python are more similar than different but in the end, for many reasons, I would use Ruby if I had a choice.

The Hidden Power of Symbols in Ruby: When to Use Symbols Instead of Strings - Thnk And Grow

Link: The Hidden Power of Symbols in Ruby: When to Use Symbols Instead of Strings - Thnk And Grow: "What are symbols in Ruby and why are they?"

The linked article talks about strings and symbols in Ruby. When I teach software engineering with Ruby I often struggle to really explain symbols, why they exist and how to use them. While they are cool for certain very specific purposes, I think if we were going to try to make the language smaller, I would suggest removing that feature!

The polish paradox

Link: The polish paradox: "The more you polish, the less you see"

That’s p-oh-lish not powe-lish! Linked article has some cool examples of user interface polish and where and when it is important.

Lessons Learned: The Evolution of an Undergraduate Robotics Course in

Link: Lessons Learned: The Evolution of an Undergraduate Robotics Course in: "Seven years ago (2016), we began integrating Robotics into our Computer Science curriculum. This paper explores the mission, initial goals and objectives, specific choices we made along the way, and why and outcomes. Of course, we were not the first to do so. Our..."

The link is to a paper of mine that was/will be published as a chapter in this volume

The PhD Paradox: A Journey into Academia’s Upside-Down World – Daniel Lemire's blog

Link: The PhD Paradox: A Journey into Academia’s Upside-Down World – Daniel Lemire's blog: "An ironic and cynical view of higher education’s obsession with degrees"

The linked article critiques the role of doctorates (PhDs) in higher ed and society as a whole. Key quote: “Imagine if we recruited professors not just for their academic credentials but for their real-world achievements. People who’ve actually built things that work, could revolutionize how we teach software engineering or entrepreneurship.” . Duh.