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Managing this complexity is the central business of programming. There are many strategies for doing so, and they work great together. But as a beginner, there are just two you should keep in mind: |
1. Pick good, descriptive names for your variables and functions. |
2. Write good comments. |
Both of these stem from the recognition that the person reading the code in the future -- quite likely yourself -- will not be able to know everything about it at once. When reading a line of code that uses a variable, they may not see where it was assigned a value. So it's important that the name itself provide a us... |
The importance of all this can't be overstated. Most big software projects that fail, fail not because the computer hardware or programming environment wasn't up to the task. They fail because the code got harder and harder to understand, and it reached a point where any attempt to change anything -- even just fixing... |
But this is not a cause for despair. We have learned a lot in the last half-century about how to write code that is clear, easy to understand, and a pleasure to maintain. Well-written code has a beauty to it that is very real, even though most people can't see it. By the end of this book, you'll be well on your way ... |
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Now that we've introduced variables and comments, the rest of the example programs will make use of these in ways that hopefully make the code clear. And when you write your own code from scratch (which, if you haven't already done, you will soon!), please try to do the same thing. |
A> **Chapter Review** |
A> - You learned how to store values in variables for future use. |
A> - You discovered how to leave comments in the code for human readers. |
A> - You've begun to think about how to write code that is not only correct, but clear and easy to understand. |
{chapterHead: "Day 30: Where to Go From Here", startingPageNum:367} |
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Q> Software engineering is the closest I could come to fulfilling my lifelong dream of becoming a wizard. |
Q>— Mel Klimushyn (software engineer) |
A> **Chapter Objectives** |
A> - Learn some fun ways to apply your programming skills. |
A> - Find resources that will enable you to keep learning and growing as a coder. |
A> - Get some final words of wisdom that you may find useful. |
This is it. The final chapter! If you've done one chapter per day, then you set out on your programming journey a month ago. Look how far you've come! |
This guide book is coming to an end, but the road to programming mastery does not. So let's finish by looking forward a bit, so you can choose your own path as you continue from here. |
## Contributing to the Community |
Q> When one teaches, two learn. |
Q> — Robert Heinlein (science fiction author) |
A great way to continue growing as a programmer is to help the MiniScript community, and there are several easy ways to do that. First, you can look for tasks to implement at Rosetta Code. |
Rosetta Code |
: <http://www.rosettacode.org/> |
This site is a specialized wiki that has a large number of relatively simple, well-defined tasks, and for each task, implementations in a wide variety of languages. If you search for "MiniScript" you can find a page that lists all the tasks that have been already implemented in MiniScript. There are over 150 of those... |
But there are literally thousands of tasks not yet implemented in MiniScript (and you can get a list of those from the MiniScript category page, too). Some of the tasks are complex, but most of them are quite simple. Most of them have dozens of implementations in other languages, too, which you can use as pseudocode ... |
So, my suggestion is this: create an account on Rosetta Code, browse the tasks not implemented in MiniScript, find some nice easy ones, and implement them! You will be exercising your skills, and helping visitors to Rosetta Code see how we do things in MiniScript. Then head on over to BadgeList — described in the nex... |
Another way to help out the community is to contribute to the MiniScript wiki. That was also mentioned in the last chapter, but it's so important that it's worth pointing out again. |
MiniScript wiki |
: <https://miniscript.org/wiki/> |
Beginners often think of wikis as something they only read. But it doesn't need to be that way; you can and should *write* wiki content, too! Find some article that is short or lacking in examples, and improve it by adding your own example, or clarifying some unclear part of the text. If you poke around enough, you ... |
Here's a great way to get started when making a new page: find some similar page, click Edit, and then copy the wiki source code that appears in the editing box. Then cancel that edit, go to the page you want to create, click "create this page," and then paste in the copied text. Now you have the basic format already... |
Rosetta Code and the wiki are important but indirect ways of helping others: you're depositing your knowledge in a resource that future knowledge-seekers may find. But also try to help others more directly, through the forums or Discord server. Check in with these when you can, and if you see somebody posting a quest... |
## Coding Challenges |
If you're facing the "writer's block" problem where you just don't know what program to write next, then there are some fun programming challenges that might be of use. Your first stop could be Badge List: |
Badge List |
: <https://www.badgelist.com/MiniScript> |
Badge List is a fun little site that awards "badges" for your accomplishments, something like merit badges in Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. You can group the badges by tags or just browse them all, and many of them are organized into different difficulty levels. Start with the *MiniScript Neophyte* badge, which only re... |
{i:"game jam"} |
When you're ready for a bigger challenge, you may want to dip your toes into the warm, chaotic waters of *game jams*. A game jam is a contest in which developers get together, individually or in small teams, to create a game in a short amount of time — typically a few days, sometimes several weeks. There are usually ... |
Most game jams are informal affairs, just for fun, though some of them do offer prizes, awarded by a panel of judges. Every game jam I've participated in has been a blast, and full of supportive, positive people all eager to share their love of coding. Here's a good place to find upcoming game jams: |
Game jams on itch.io |
: <https://itch.io/jams> |
Here you'll find a "jam calendar" showing all the ongoing or upcoming jams. You can also search and filter in various ways. Note that you don't need to find a MiniScript-specific game jam; you can build your Mini Micro games for Windows, Mac, Linux, and the web, so you can enter almost any game jam that does not requ... |
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The game jam community is also a great place to connect with others in the hobby. In particular, it's common for programmers like yourself to team up with artists and musicians to tackle a jam together. |
Note that there's a `#game-jam` channel in the MiniScript Discord server, too, so if you are thinking about participating in a jam and would like a coding partner, help with a bug, or just words of encouragement, be sure to post there. |
## More Guidance |
Since you've made it this far, it's clear you're a good reader and you enjoy learning this way. So you may be wondering if there are any other books to learn from? |
At the time of this writing, the only other book is the *MiniScript User's Manual*, described in the last chapter. *Learn to Code in 30 Days* is the first "real" book written for MiniScript, because its whole purpose is to help people who are new to coding get up to speed. |
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