Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with neophyte

Programming neophyte looking for a language to start with. Or, what language should I learn to complete these tasks?

monkishies — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:24:00 -0800

What programming language should a neophyte start with to organize his life? Yes, another one of those questions. But I have two specific tasks that I'd like to accomplish and this makes choosing a language really hard for me. Especially since i'm a complete n00bler. I'm a complete virgin to programming other than the little bit of BASIC that was taught to me in High School ages ago. But I REALLY want to learn a programming language. One that I can use as a foundation but more importantly a tool for doing things on/to/with my internet connected PC.

I have two specific tasks that I'd like to start out with for my first programs that I believe will be simple enough for a beginner like me.

1. Organize my horribly disorganized library
---Read through a folder filled with books in .pdf/.chm/.djvu format
---rename the files with their isbn number (queried from somewhere like amazon)
---fill in the "title","subject","author","category","keywords", and "comments" sections under right click on file Properties->Summary (also queried from amazon or the like)
---compress the file
---create a subject/category folder and place the compressed file there

2. Organize ~20mb worth of bookmarks (in multiple .html files)
---Check for duplicate bookmarks in this collection of .html files
----Use the pages content to scrape tag words then input them in the right click on bookmark Properties->"keyword" section and if possible also fill in the "description" area. Delicious to me would be a last resort as it's become a mess with people using tags that often look like gibberish and probably only make sense to their user and/or their own piece of code.

It'd also be nice for these apps to be cross platform (Windows and Linux) but that's an afterthought really.

Now, I know this might sound like a tall order for a complete neophyte but I believe the first program that I've outlined above could be easy enough to complete for someone like me.

So, what should it be? Perl, Python, C, C++, something else? Maybe someone out there knows of a *free ware/beggar ware/Open Source* program that does what I desperately need to get done? Please impart your collective wisdom unto me, AskMeFi! I beg you!

Death & Rebirth: New Computer Needs Wisdom From Old Computer

wordswinker — Wed, 03 May 2006 12:39:33 -0800

I have a new PC (huzzah!). Thanks, Pop. Now what? Is there a savvy online guide for getting what I need from here to there avoiding as many pitfalls as possible?

This topic has been covered before, but at a level over my head. Y'all Mefites are a techy bunch, and it's part of your charm, but I'm smart about other things. Can you help?

I'd like to know what I'm getting into before getting started. My entire business is on my now-old PC (an emachines T1096 that's four years old now), so if I'm a bit widgy about the whole thing, please be gentle with me.

Extra Credit: I recently added more memory to my old PC. Can I swap that to the new one without hurting anything? I plan on keeping the old one for the kiddos.

Hanging antique Kimono- How?

Jeff_Larson — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 22:15:41 -0800

How do I hang a 40 year-old silk kimono on a wall without damaging it? My mom recently entrusted us with a kimono given to my grandfather for representing the proprietors of the San Francisco Tea Garden after the Japanese internment during WWII. I guess my mom likes us a lot because this kimono is beautiful and irreplaceable. We hung it on the wall with a dowel and put a shelf underneath (where the bottom hem falls) to protect it 1) from stress and 2) from our kitten.

This afternoon it looks as though there are several new small tears near the center (waist height) of the kimono, which we can only assume come from the stress the fabric is putting on itself.

Barring going to a professional art-mounter, can anyone tell us who we should talk to about how to display the kimono without destroying it? Or even how we can find out who to talk to? I tried google but it was stupid.

I have a question on learning programming if you have no programming experience.

TeamBilly — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 08:38:10 -0800

Inspired by this thread on programming languages, I have a question on learning programming if you have no programming experience. (more) I didn't want to derail the other thread because the poster had a very specific question which was answered comprehensively...

If someone wanted to make a complete career shift and begin teaching themselves to code from the ground up, what would be the recommended strategy? For example, I know HTML fairly well, but I also know that HTML is not, in the pure sense, a programming language.

So, aside from the possible "How to Code for Dummies" idea, I'm curious if the more experienced could point someone who has never written a line of compiled code in his life in the right direction. Thank you.