I may not be the most qualified person to answer this, but I always thought private methods and variables were for internal use inside of a class while the public methods were what one would actually call with their objects. For example your object had a method foo() which would be better defined as smaller methods which are combined together. Those smaller functions serve no other purpose and therefore do not need to be called by the object directly.
Yes, I thought about it as I was writing the post. But what I'm interested in finding out is how (and if) it is any different today (2010) than it was when the essay was written. In other words, has anything changed that would make another language a close alternative to Lisp? Or is Lisp still at the top of the continuum ?
I would love to respond to everyone but I think a follow up would be better. I never expected getting this much feedback! Just wanted to start off with a big thanks!
I've decided that the university route is the way to go. I was stressing over getting a job or doing a startup so much that I forgot about how much I want to learn. I think I will do whatever interests me and allow that to lead me, instead of having a pre-determined mndset of what I think I'm supposed to be. I won't stress out about grades or jobs and make the most of the next four years.
And just to clarify, I've been going to the community college for two years full time, not high school. I know the uni is a great place to meet girls but, and I REALLY don't want to sound cocky, I've never had problems with girls. I'm not lacking in social skills and I'm sure many here on HN aren't either.
I also never expected there to be so many people from UW here! The next four years should be exciting, and I'm really looking forward to them and also being more active in this community. Thanks again.
Because of my college credits, I will be entering the University as a Jr. What I'm afraid of is that I will not have enough time to sharpen my skills in a year or two, which is why I've had graduate school in the back of my mind. And also why I feel like I should be coding as much as can now.
I'm already fluent in Russian, and I am learning my native language, Armenian, at the moment.
And I wouldn't say that I'm under challenged. College seems like a lot of work, but that thrill of a challenge is missing. It's also a tough time for my family, so I'm also working as much as I can. I guess my main dilemma is the lack of free time. It might have been unclear in my post, but I was thinking that my time would be better spent coding than trying to be an overachiever in school.
I really enjoyed this excellent resource. However, I've noticed that some of the posts are over 900 days old.
I know many things still hold true, but would that make a difference in the quality of information? For example, some of the posts about technology might be a bit outdated because things change so quickly.
Nevertheless, this is something that really helped me out.
I was going to recommend this book to my younger brother. However, I changed my mind shortly after discovering that this book does not cover classes! I might not be an expert, but almost every Python program I've read uses classes, and I think it would be difficult for a beginner to read the code of others after finishing this book.
Yeah, I heard the UK was an awesome place to live. And personally, I am a firm believer in bootstrapping startups, so venture capital isn't the first thing on my mind. It's good to know that London is not far behind. And good luck with your startup!