Slides presented at TIFF Nexus: Women in Film, Games and New Media (Dec 9th, 2011) on the importance of code literacy.
Last 3 slides are bonus slides with resources to start learning programming.
25. MOAR!
RESOURCES TO GET YOU GOING:
slideshare.net/androidsNsheep
(or search “TIFF Nexus”)
Google+:
gplus.to/pearl
26. SO YOU WANT TO LEARN…
GENERAL CODING SKILLZ
Beginner resources: And beyond…
• Ladies Learning • Friends of ED
(Series of books aimed at “Every
Code (Classes held ~1-2 times Designer” or code beginners. Now
per month in downtown Toronto; part of Apress and super annoying
topics vary.) to filter for on apress.com but look
for their logo on the cover of books
• Processing (Projects are at the bookstore.)
called “sketches” due to the simple
and easy coding environment but • Safari Books Online
you can make very complicated (Online version of tech books from
things the better you get at learning various publishers. FREE with
this simplified version of Java.) Toronto library card! Great for doing
all your reading or previewing
• Scratch (aimed at children for before you buy or borrow a hard
game making but everyone’s a kid copy version.)
at heart, right? Drag and drop
blocks to help you understand
logic.)
27. SO YOU WANT TO LEARN…
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN WEBSITE
Beginner resources: And beyond…
• My Ladies Learning • A List Apart (Think of it as a
newspaper for people who make
Code JavaScript websites.)
slides (I haven’t tested this
outside a classroom so please tell me • jQuery or mootools
if it works as an online resource!) (Two of the most popular JavaScript
frameworks that help you write
• Eloquent JavaScript interactive elements quicker than
(Available as a print book or as a regular JavaScript)
FREE online interactive version.)
• WordPress (Use it as a blog
• w3schools (Always keep it or as a “content management
open in another tab and refer back to system” (CMS) for any website
it when you need to reference whose content changes often.)
anything HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.)
28. SO YOU WANT TO LEARN…
HARDWARE INTERFACING OR CREATIVE CODING
Beginner resources: And beyond…
• Arduino (Inexpensive and • Making Things
beginner-friendly microcontroller
board. The programming
Talk, 2nd edition
environment looks a lot like (Intermediate hardware projects)
Processing because they share
similar roots. Check out Creatron and • Programming
other places in Toronto to buy
electronics components.) Interactivity, 2nd
Edition (Get the low down on
• openFrameworks Processing, Arduino, AND
(A C++ library created for artists. Not openFrameworks. #win)
as easy as Processing to get started
with but C++ is the basis for most
hardcore gaming languages so it’s a * Remember that some books can be found via
good place to start… or stick to for the Safari Books Online portal on the Toronto
various projects.) Public Library website.
Notes de l'éditeur
More than half my life writing code.
The future looks bright!
But not everyone is like me. People are scared of code!
Because of Internet and computer improvements, look at all these new jobs! (Sorry, Wordle doesn’t let me make a word cloud out of phrases, e.g. “mobile designer”)Forbes: “Every company is now a software company” – even Ford Motors cannot survive the future by just making cars, they must make “computers on wheels”http://www.forbes.com/sites/techonomy/2011/11/30/now-every-company-is-a-software-company/
But things happen as an evolution. As a teenager, I liked to make bead jewelry like this one I found on Etsy. (Note: not mine!)
I like to call myself a digital or electronic artisan – “knitting with LEDs”. Made (fly)light in my undergrad at Ryerson University. Had to learn BASIC to program PIC chips.
txt2hold created at CFC Media Lab with 4 residents/students who were not programmers. Without code (Java), this project would not exist.
As an independent educator, I run Arduino & Android workshops. Uses Java + Arduino code. The “Internet of Things”… objects that reach out to your current communications streams.
ANerve by CuteCurcuit really inspired my thoughts about “mobile” devices and the Internet of Things. It’s a Bluetooth “accessory” for your mobile phone; forwards text messages to your sleeve.
Image pictured is not mine but it uses the same stuff I want to make Android-powered curtains out of; it’s called Nitinol or Flexinol or simply “muscle wire”.Because I can program, I can be as creative as I want – no need to be restricted by stuff I can find at a store.
There’s something very powerful from making SOMETHING out of NOTHING!Hard to hire someone to do the programming for you: need to find the right personality match, need to describe what’s in your head which might be difficult especially when experimental, need a budget, sometimes hard to find a developer at all since they are so in demand.If there’s something you’ve always wanted to invent, knowing how to code will get you closer. You can at least get a rough prototype done yourself.
Projects can breathe as if they have a life of their own. (e.g. sunrise/sunset times change, weather is never the same)There’s data everywhere ready for you to make into a story.
Jonathan Harris is one of my favourite storytellers. He takes data from online sources (or gathers it himself) and uses that data to tell us what it means to be collectively human.Example: We Feel Fine, written in Processing (based on Java)
Another example: I Want You To Want Me, written in OpenFrameworks, a C++ library.
Interactivity allows you to incorporate your user into your medium. (Game devs know this.)
You don’t need to build a Call of Duty to be a game developer. Lots of non-traditional games out there. PixelJunk Eden made me run out and buy a PlayStation that same day!
Braid: PLAY IT! DO IT!You can makes games in many languages: C++, Flash, Unity, JavaScript.Game-specific tools: GameMaker, Game Salad, Scratch
If you’re a developer and you’re starving, it’s probably by choice.If you’re jealous when you hear about startups being valuated at millions of dollars… LEARN TO CODE!
As a freelance developer, I was paid well enough to give me the freedom and opportunity to work on my own projects on the side.Programming skills applied to the Craib corporate site: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, some Flash; is actually a modified Wordpress site.
Speaking of Wordpress, there is a basic need to work on our online public profiles. At a Ladies Learning Code session, a big room (on a Saturday) is filled!LLC is a grassroots educational organization founded in Toronto. 4:1 student to teacher ratio – no one feels lost!I was lead instructor for the first one: Introduction to JavaScript.
Will finish off by stating that I never finished Computer Science. In fact, I only finished one semester of it. (I have a Bach of Fine Arts!)SO DON’T LET THE IDEA OF NEEDING TO GO TO SCHOOL STOP YOU!!I learned most of what I know via books and online resources. (Thankfully, more and more grassroots organizations popping up every month.)THANK YOU AGAIN!