What kind of small toys or devices click when you rotate them forwards and backwards? Seeking mechanism or design... [more inside]
posted by pallen123 on Nov 21, 2009 - 13 answers

I am a soon-to-be high school senior interested in Java programming. I bought the Core Java Volume 1 book authored by Sun engineers. I believe I have unzipped, or decompressed, however it's said, the Library Source Code and Documentation using the command line. However, when I look at the folders using the GUI, the folder says it's still zipped. I'm a complete newbie at this who just recently learned about the existence of the command and read a little about how to use it on the internet. Can somebody help me?
posted by bookman117 on Aug 14, 2009 - 22 answers

Looking for a publicly available graph (vertices and edges) representation of San Francisco's streets. Also called a road network I believe. [more inside]
posted by christy on Jun 22, 2009 - 6 answers

What programming language should I use for a Digg-like web site? [more inside]
posted by jackson5 on Jun 15, 2009 - 14 answers

Stuck trying to install Geant4 on my laptop. I get "Error 2", and warnings that multiple libraries are not in the expected locations (ordinary libraries like stdio.h). Are there any experienced installers out there who can kibbutz with me on this?
posted by IAmBroom on Jun 8, 2009 - 4 answers

I have always been horrible at math, but somehow a great programmer. I have found that writing a computer program that demonstrates a certain mathematical concept enables me to better understand the concept. I'm a psych major and I brought this up once in the research lab I've been working in. My prof said he recalls that someone did research and/or created a system in which a student writes a computer program that is pertinent to a certain mathematical concept and upon completion is given the regular math problem (as it would appear in a math class). This enables the student to better understand the math problem, solve, and learn math. Has anyone heard of this or anything similar? A learning system such as this would be a blessing to my education. Thanks.
posted by fightoplankton on Apr 13, 2009 - 15 answers

Hi, I need a Netbeans guru to help me turn off an automated feature [more inside]
posted by Raichle on Feb 18, 2009 - 2 answers

Foreword: No ruby background aside from basic tutorials. Here's the deal. I've tired the Agile Web Dev (2nd edition) book for rails, very out of date. I need to learn something. I want to learn ruby on Rails. I've gone through the Rails guide on creating a rails blog (http://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started_with_rails.html). So, rather then buy it now (3rd edition of book as beta) or just wait, I want to get on the fast track to learn rails 2.2 (soon to be release 2.3) . Basically I'm looking for a online resource super cheap or free that provides quality information relating to rails and ruby. Help and suggestions welcome
posted by BoldStepDesign on Feb 3, 2009 - 6 answers

Help plotting mandelbrot set in Java, more inside. [more inside]
posted by Raichle on Feb 3, 2009 - 8 answers

I have a very repetitive task that I think might be a good candidate for scripting, but I'm not sure what "scripting" even involves except getting a lot of things done automatically. So how do I get started getting this thing done? [more inside]
posted by Willie0248 on Oct 29, 2008 - 8 answers

Anyone have experience moving from PHP to Spring/JSP? What approach made the change easiest for you? [more inside]
posted by secret.osha on Oct 20, 2008 - 1 answer

"If you wait to teach them until college, it's almost always too late; adult brains generally can't form the deep structures necessary to learn real programming, only rote copy-paste code monkeying." [article] Uhh... seriously? [more inside]
posted by Tubes on Aug 5, 2008 - 30 answers

Best book for a beginner to learn C? I've never learned a programming language, but I'm hoping to learn C over the summer. My friend, a computer science student, is going to teach me as he learns it. We would like a textbook or reference book or work book of some kind. What would be a good choice? [more inside]
posted by asparagrass on May 21, 2008 - 22 answers

I have a bachelor's in architecture but after a few years of work experience I have begun to feel that it may not be my bag. At work I find myself spending more time tweaking my computer and finding new tricks than actually drafting. [more inside]
posted by mockdeep on Apr 23, 2008 - 19 answers

Help me think in terms of programming metaphors. [more inside]
posted by Burhanistan on Jan 23, 2008 - 8 answers

In MATLAB, how do you represent moving objects not as points in 3d space but as spheres with a certain radius? [more inside]
posted by kaozity on Oct 30, 2007 - 6 answers

Does anyone know of a way to create a line graph using html or javascript? [more inside]
posted by kaozity on Jul 30, 2007 - 6 answers

How can a 20-year old attend computer camp? [more inside]
posted by crayolarabbit on Apr 3, 2007 - 3 answers

I need help with creating Icons for Windows applications. [more inside]
posted by unexpected on Feb 6, 2007 - 9 answers

What tech skills should I pick up to help in my job search after I graduate from college? [more inside]
posted by blueplasticfish on Jan 3, 2007 - 8 answers

Need a little help with javascript.. [more inside]
posted by ascullion on Sep 29, 2006 - 8 answers

I want to learn to create simple Windows desktop applications for my own personal use. What programming language should I start learning? [more inside]
posted by LeeJay on Jul 21, 2006 - 21 answers

What language/environment would be a good choice now for a 6-year old math whizz to learn the basics of programming? [more inside]
posted by unSane on Jun 16, 2006 - 35 answers

What is the most useful computer/IT topic for an ordinary user to study ? [more inside]
posted by Methylviolet on Jun 1, 2006 - 20 answers

Is it possible make a browser window go full screen? Not "fake full screen," but full-on, PowerPoint style full screen mode? [more inside]
posted by josh.ev9 on May 30, 2006 - 16 answers

When compiling gcc-3.4.4 on OS X 10.4.5 I get an error about an undefined symbol, _fprintf$LDBLStub. How do I make this go away? [more inside]
posted by mto on Mar 4, 2006 - 7 answers

I'm interested in learning how to program, I'm really interested in some of the cool new Web 2.0 apps that I have seen popping up recently and I would like to get under the hood and start trying some things out, mostly as just a hobby. [more inside]
posted by mhaw on Dec 14, 2005 - 14 answers

Are Tetris clones legal?
posted by Tlogmer on Nov 28, 2005 - 4 answers

I’ve been assigned to evaluate the feasibility of using Lucene for our website, a large, high-use government site with rapidly-changing data. [more inside]
posted by MrMoonPie on Apr 27, 2005 - 3 answers

I need a free, easy-to-install program to analyze server logs. [more inside]
posted by Tlogmer on Apr 4, 2005 - 7 answers

How can I become a unix super-geek? [more inside]
posted by timeistight on Feb 10, 2005 - 32 answers

Inspired by this thread on programming languages, I have a question on learning programming if you have no programming experience. (more) [more inside]
posted by TeamBilly on Jan 30, 2005 - 30 answers

I am taking a brain-painful networking class (hint: it's all about the routers, baby!) and the studying is intense. It's hard, but I'm holding my own. I see questions here on AskMe that bring really cool answers from lots of folks, with a lot of repeat answerers, which leads me to ask, How Did You Learn What You Know About Computers/the Internet? Was it in school? Did you apprentice with someone who had m4d sk1lz? Did you teach yourself? Other?
posted by Lynsey on Oct 11, 2004 - 18 answers

Perl, semaphores, linux, problems [mi] [more inside]
posted by pissfactory on Oct 4, 2004 - 5 answers

IndependentContractorFilter: So I've landed a gig doing some contract programming, except we don't actually have a signed contract yet. Before I sink any more time (existing time being this afternoon) into it, and before I deliver anything, I want one, obviously. Does anyone know of any example programming contracts online I can crib from? All the obvious search words are so over-represented on the Web that my Google results are uselessly noisy.
posted by Zed_Lopez on Aug 9, 2004 - 5 answers

I swore I wasn't gonna collect any more computer languages. Then I read up on HLA and installed it along with FASM, MASM32 and the really nice RadASM IDE -- and got pretty jazzed. Anyone have any experience and thoughts to share?
posted by RavinDave on Aug 6, 2004 - 6 answers

I'm learning JavaScript for a project, and having trouble sussing the DOM addresses of components of a page. I've played with FireFox's DOM Explorer, but while it shows the tree, it doesn't show the element addresses, nor can you print the tree out. Any suggestions? [more inside]
posted by baylink on Jul 8, 2004 - 5 answers

So here's a delightfully geeky programming question for those in the know: I need to build a system, preferably in PHP, with a highly extensible plug-in system. And I don't know where to start, although I figure an OO-orientated approach might help. Any ideas?
posted by bwerdmuller on Apr 23, 2004 - 6 answers

Inside, I've posted a question about computer programming, regarding organizing class libraries and packages -- and also regarding good programming practices. [more inside]
posted by grumblebee on Feb 4, 2004 - 6 answers