I applaud you efforts helping each other; just a few concerns...
...but most do not do so and lack the motivation or ability to learn by themselves.
Anyone who lacks the motivation or ability to learn by themselves should probably consider another line of work. This character trait is a necessary but not sufficient condition for being a good programmer.
It becomes a group activity.
Having community support is great, but let's not fool ourselves: programming is rarely a group activity; great work requires lots of time alone, just you and your terminal.
You have someone to push you when you start slacking. Kind of the same as getting a workout buddy.
When you get stuck, there is someone who can help you out.
Getting stuck is natural and it's always nice to have someone to turn to, but we must be careful not to develop too many crutches. The best learning almost always comes from struggling and figuring it out on your own. Let's not deprive anyone of this "joy".
With a large enough group and a couple months, you will be able to pick up not 1 or 2 but quite a few languages.
Being able to claim limited proficiency in multiple languages is not an advantage. Better to concentrate on one or two core technologies and become very, very good at them. It really doesn't matter which.
Another problem this will fix for those of the entrepreneurial mindset will be a larger pool of good developers looking for a job/project to work on.
That should be your focus. Projects. The best way to learn is by doing. Classes and discussions are good starting points, but you should be moving on to actually doing it as quickly as you can. You should be concentrating on the results of your work, not on the length of your resumes. I'd prefer someone who could deliver an app with only 20% of the syntax of any language over someone who learned lots of stuff but struggled to use it.
Please share your experiences with this as you proceed. I for one would be interested in learning what works best for you guys. Good luck!
There's a reason CS courses don't teach the latest language. For one, the professors have other things to do than try every new language that comes out. Second, the concepts are the same. Most of the difference is the syntax sugar and the backend (yes, I know this is flame war material).
Having a social club for people interested in programming is fine. Just watch out for freeloaders. The people who don't currently have the initiative to try a programming language will just show up and expect you to use your free time to teach them everything.
Agreed. One of the most important skills I picked up in college was not the ability to code in whatever the hot language du jour was, but the ability to learn a new language quickly, and to pick out its important characteristics: Garbage collection? Dynamic typing? Closures?
After that, yes, it's nice to be fluent in a fast, productive language like Python, and to understand a lower-level one like C.
i like the idea of meeting people and having a good time geeking out over technical things. i like the idea of sharing news and experiences with the latest technology. i like the idea of having a support group to brainstorm and problem solve with.
leave the coding for the occasional hack session and you have awesome!!!!!!!!
let me know when it's up and running....or maybe i should just start a meetup.com.... yeah??
...but most do not do so and lack the motivation or ability to learn by themselves.
Anyone who lacks the motivation or ability to learn by themselves should probably consider another line of work. This character trait is a necessary but not sufficient condition for being a good programmer.
It becomes a group activity.
Having community support is great, but let's not fool ourselves: programming is rarely a group activity; great work requires lots of time alone, just you and your terminal.
You have someone to push you when you start slacking. Kind of the same as getting a workout buddy. When you get stuck, there is someone who can help you out.
Getting stuck is natural and it's always nice to have someone to turn to, but we must be careful not to develop too many crutches. The best learning almost always comes from struggling and figuring it out on your own. Let's not deprive anyone of this "joy".
With a large enough group and a couple months, you will be able to pick up not 1 or 2 but quite a few languages.
Being able to claim limited proficiency in multiple languages is not an advantage. Better to concentrate on one or two core technologies and become very, very good at them. It really doesn't matter which.
Another problem this will fix for those of the entrepreneurial mindset will be a larger pool of good developers looking for a job/project to work on.
That should be your focus. Projects. The best way to learn is by doing. Classes and discussions are good starting points, but you should be moving on to actually doing it as quickly as you can. You should be concentrating on the results of your work, not on the length of your resumes. I'd prefer someone who could deliver an app with only 20% of the syntax of any language over someone who learned lots of stuff but struggled to use it.
Please share your experiences with this as you proceed. I for one would be interested in learning what works best for you guys. Good luck!