Which book do you plan to read.

alexseitsinger said:
I would consider one learning their first computer language through a foreign book to be quite an impressive intellectual feat.
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I learned my first computer language (PL/1) by reading books in my native language (Russian).
But I quickly realized that the translation distorts the meaning. Moreover, the spirit of the book is lost in translation. Therefore, since ~1995, I have been trying to read books in the original - in the language of the author.
I (as a Russian) find it hardest to read books written by British.
It is much easier to read books written by Americans.
And it is quite easy to read books written by Europeans for whom English is not their native language (it is important that the authors translate their books into English themselves, and do not use the services of translators, since translators usually do not know the subject area at the required level).
 
_al said:
I learned my first computer language (PL/1) by reading books in my native language (Russian).
But I quickly realized that the translation distorts the meaning. Moreover, the spirit of the book is lost in translation. Therefore, since ~1995, I have been trying to read books in the original - in the language of the author.
I (as a Russian) find it hardest to read books written by British.
It is much easier to read books written by Americans.
And it is quite easy to read books written by Europeans for whom English is not their native language (it is important that the authors translate their books into English themselves, and do not use the services of translators, since translators usually do not know the subject area at the required level).
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Damn.. well now that's not so impressive at all! But have you ever learned a programming language (just learned starting from knowing nothing) like C or C++ from an English book? Because that's not your native language and I don't see much point in doing it because it would just overload your brain. But going from Russian to English as a native Russian speaker is a lot easier than a native English speaker reading a book in Russian.
 
chessguy64 said:
But have you ever learned a programming language (just learned starting from knowing nothing) like C or C++ from an English book?
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Yes. C - K&R.
And Perl ("Camel" Book).

But I already had some knowledge of other programming languages (and of computers in general) from books translated into my native language... I can read in English. Although, of course, my English is very bad (especially spoken).

chessguy64 said:
But going from Russian to English as a native Russian speaker is a lot easier than a native English speaker reading a book in Russian.
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Completely agree.

Edit:
The fact is that we (in Russia) have less and less good translations of books on C, C ++ into Russian, ... And we don’t have translations of new books (2020-2022) at all. Therefore, I read all new books on programming in the original.
 
chessguy64 said:
Damn.. well now that's not so impressive at all! But have you ever learned a programming language (just learned starting from knowing nothing) like C or C++ from an English book? Because that's not your native language and I don't see much point in doing it because it would just overload your brain. But going from Russian to English as a native Russian speaker is a lot easier than a native English speaker reading a book in Russian.
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I'm from a country that don't have much production of good books, so 99% of the books that I read isn't in my native language. That is pretty normal in third world countries.
 
mer said:
Ok, the Logo. Long time ago, wife and I were out and about, I was wearing one of the Classic T-shirts and got a stink-eye from a member of a religion (he was wearing a collar). Casual conversation while waiting for food (wife was at a table), I start getting the "devil, blah blah blah". I simply said, "You are familiar with classic Greek literature?" Yes, I am "Ahh then you know the difference between a daemon and a devil, yes?" Bug eyed look as a response. "It's a computer operating system where a bunch of processes work together to help the user get something useful done." More bug eyed response. "besides, he's smiling, he's soft and fluffy and huggable, isn't he?" Silence for a couple of seconds, then a big grin and a laugh, acknowledging I had a point.
I closed with "Just don't feed them after midnight" (from the movie Gremlins).
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Good on you. It's impossible to to sway the smooth brains. I try to avoid them when possible.
 
Grell said:
I don't think it is appropriate to bash religion on this forum. Not everyone has the same views as each other. You may hate Christianity, that doesn't mean your views apply to everyone else. I for one am a Christian and I remember making my avatar a picture of the Bible and I was forced to change it. I don't think religion (or opposition to it for that matter) has a place on these forums.
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You're not wrong. This is a computer forum board. Religion is like a penis, it's okay to have one, and even be proud of it! It's not okay to show it to other people. Keep it in your pants.

The problem is that the religious feel it's their right to force their beliefs on others, and that everyone should follow their beliefs. There are literal world wars fought over 'ma gad,' for no reason. Gods were created to explain what humans couldn't, to calm their fears to do the big scary things.

I just hope humanity is able to evolve past the need simple comforting lies.
 
Grell said:
Grell said:
Well, if we are allowed to discuss religion (at least until this thread gets closed), I'll put in my two cents, since it seems like the other side has put in theirs (mind you all this is off the top of my head):

I believe in Jesus Christ, that He died on the cross for forgiveness of my sins
I believe in the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
I believe that the Bible is God's perfect, inerrant Word, in its original writings
I believe in Creation, that God created Man, Earth and the whole Universe, and that he did not use evolution to do so
I believe in a literal Devil, and literal demons under his command, whose purpose is to lead men astray from salvation through tempting them to sin

I believe that dying without Christ as your Savior will lead one to an eternity in Hell
I believe to receive the gift of eternal life in Heaven one must accept Jesus as Savior and repent (turn away from) from sin



jesus-christ-on-the-cross-crucifixion-svitozar-nenyuk.jpg



Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven

Does this offend you?
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Of course it doesn't offend me. Do you get offended by other fiction novels? Of course not! What offends me is when people try to get me to follow their particular brand of fiction.

There have been thousands of gods throughout history, but don't worry. Yours is real. It's the truest one of them all. It's not like where you were born has anything to do with it. That if you were born in India you'd be a Hindu. No no, you keep your head down, and push forward. Do you boo boo.
 
Grell said:
I'd rather keep this thread about books than go back to talking about religion again. But, I was just sharing my beliefs, that's all. I should be allowed to do that on an open forum. I don't want this thread to go down the rabbit hole of religion again and I don't think most other people do either. If you have any questions you can send me a private message.
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What's funny is in response, others were sharing their beliefs. Do unto others, no?
 
Tolerance goes both ways. That is the lesson most people forget. "You must be tolerant of my views" "Ok, by definition, you must be tolerant of mine" "No yours is hate speech"

I don't think the above has happened in this thread, but that seems to be the "standard" You must be tolerant of me but I don't have to be tolerant of you.
And that is the problem.
Believe, don't believe, Flying Spagetti monsters, whatever. Doesn't really matter but again you want me to respect your beliefs, please do me the courtesy of respecting mine. We can disagree, but it's the respectful discussion that is important.
 
mer said:
Tolerance goes both ways. That is the lesson most people forget. "You must be tolerant of my views" "Ok, by definition, you must be tolerant of mine" "No yours is hate speech"

I don't think the above has happened in this thread, but that seems to be the "standard" You must be tolerant of me but I don't have to be tolerant of you.
And that is the problem.
Believe, don't believe, Flying Spagetti monsters, whatever. Doesn't really matter but again you want me to respect your beliefs, please do me the courtesy of respecting mine. We can disagree, but it's the respectful discussion that is important.
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"Those who are determined to be 'offended' will discover a provocation somewhere. We cannot possibly adjust enough to please the fanatics, and it is degrading to make the attempt." -Christopher Hitchens
 
k3y5 said:
What's funny is in response, others were sharing their beliefs. Do unto others, no?
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I wasn't implying they couldn't share their beliefs, but if they do, they can be cordial and we can discuss in a friendly way what mine are versus what theirs are. But this thread is not the place for it. This thread is about books. I have already seen people post religious books and I have too and I think that is okay as long as we don't keep going on this atheist vs. Christian tangent. I grow weary of having to defend myself. I made my beliefs clear. If you want to talk about yours, go ahead. I think a separate thread is in order for that, and I think tolerance for mine as well as yours is in order as mer said.
 
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Grell said:
I wasn't implying they couldn't share their beliefs, but if they do, they can be cordial and we can discuss in a friendly way what mine are versus what theirs are. But this thread is not the place for it. This thread is about books. I have already seen people post religious books and I have too and I think that is okay as long as we don't keep going on this atheist vs. Christian tangent. I grow weary of having to defend myself. I made my beliefs clear. If you want to talk about yours, go ahead. I think a separate thread is in order for that, and I think tolerance for mine as well as yours is in order as mer said.
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Which is a good point. I did go off on a tangent.

One correction, I'm not atheist, I'm an antitheist. I will never tolerate ignorance in the face of logic. Your very beliefs contradict your statements. Religion offers no tolerance, and I will offer none in return.
 
k3y5 said:
Which is a good point. I did go off on a tangent.

One correction, I'm not atheist, I'm an antitheist. I will never tolerate ignorance in the face of logic. Your very beliefs contradict your statements. Religion offers no tolerance, and I will offer none in return.
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Okay that's fine. Then there is really no point in even conversing with you. This thread can just go back to normal. If you want to start a thread on religion we can do that. Again, I don't see how we can even have a discussion if one side refuses to engage in civility and reacts with anger and emotionalism. This thread has had enough of this BS, everyone wants the last word.
 
Do you guys prefer paper based books or read them on a computer? And what about technical papers and articles? I prefer reading paper based books but have completely switched to reading articles on the computer. Still, I do collect pdfs of books that I may want to read or refer to.
 
bakul said:
Do you guys prefer paper based books or read them on a computer? And what about technical papers and articles? I prefer reading paper based books but have completely switched to reading articles on the computer. Still, I do collect pdfs of books that I may want to read or refer to.
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I find it useful to keep paper books and printed tutorials in the case that the internet isn't available.
 
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