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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Cooking up something ...


Learning to use a new software program is like going into someone else's kitchen and trying to fix a meal. You know they have everything you need to get the job done, but you have no idea where they have hidden it, so you spend all your time looking for the stuff you need. And if they happen to be a little out of the mainstream (aren't we all?) the tools they have will be almost unrecognizable and stored in really strange places.

I've been playing with Eclipse, which is a program for software development, and it is a lot like that. Plenty of buttons right up front that do things that either I don't want or need, or else they do things that I do not even comprehend. All the "simple" stuff, is buried in obscurity and requires the patience of Jobe (is that the right reference? Jobe?) to locate.

I have been using Microsoft's Visual Studio (Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, actually) for the last ten years or so, and I have become used to the way things are done there. But it is Microsoft's, and I really don't want to be there, so Eclipse it is. And I am learning, slowly. I've been able to compile and debug some simple programs, and I have learned to deal with some of the quirks. What I really need though, is a bigger screen. Until I learn what all this stuff that is cluttering up the screen is, I am reluctant to delete any of it. Shoot, at this point I don't know if I could delete it.

I think I am going to try and go to a dual screen setup, which means I am going to have to do some major rearranging in my office. Another chore to add to my infinite list of things to get done.

Update January 2107 replaced missing picture.

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