Book Review:Getting Started with Processing

Getting Started with Processing

by Casey Reas and Ben Fry

The Premise

The existence of Processing programming language is a godsend. This is a computer programming language that I tell everybody to learn, and this little computer programming book has a lot to do with it. It is both approachable and logical, something I wish more book writers will follow. Mostly, I'm disappointed. Most computer programming book writers, either imply or outright stated, that the skill of Computer Programming cannot be learned in a book! This is one of the few books that not only stated that it can, but also expected!

Since the intended demographic is for Artists, the technical info is necessarily brief. For further reading, I suggest that you search for books by Dan Shiffman, who also have a YouTube channel. He's a great educator and motivator, and someone you should look up to!

The Beginning

The book begins simply, as is most computer programming book. Between pages 1 and 6, the authors laid down the reason for being, the reason for existence, and the implied purpose of the book. This isn't a book full of heavy technical issues. It's not a complete Reference, or even a complete Tutorials. This book is a good collection of introductory info where you can begin to be productive immediately. The value of this book isn't in what this book includes, but it is in what this book excludes.

After the obligatory installation procedure, the text shows a simple one line program. It draws an ellipse on screen. The fact that the program starts with a graphical interface, where other books starts with "Hello World" program, speaks volumes about the intention of the authors, and I marveled by its efficiency in getting the message across. Not as impressed, though, as the second program shown, which is a simple drawing program using mouse, both as button press and as positions. Interestingly enough, the discussion of variables is still a few chapters away!

Starting to Code

The next few chapters, chapter 5 to 8, explores the concept of computer programming in greater details. Notice that I didn't say in great details. It is an expansion of ideas, yet not comprehensive. What is there, though, is enough to get you started. Again, I was impressed with the examples. This is what efficient coding is all about. To be able to get something that is not only beautiful to look at, but also very quickly coded, that is something to be admired.

About the only thing that I would change is the inclusion of Arrays. The authors, for some reason, decided to present the Array concept in chapter 10. About the only reason that I can think of, is that Processing programming language allows the existence of Array of Objects and therefore shows you the Object creation method before showing you the array. But this is nitpick on my part. I never found the concept of Object Oriented Programming Style to be useful. OO is a good alternative, but I never found the concept of Procedural Programming to be a limitation. 

Looking back into it, I am impressed about the ease the materials were introduced. What other books treat as a big deal, this book presented the materials as a common everyday occurrence. Even the concept of setup() and draw(), which is unique to Processing, is presented as something that naturally occurs. This, of course, is the heart of Event based coding and is a whole paradigm itself. To have such concepts presented naturally, is something that I have never seen done, before or after.

External Materials

In fact, it makes the last chapters inclusion to feel like an afterthought. "Oh, by the way, Processing platform is also capable of doing these things..." is the statement presented. And yes, I find the fact that there is a built-in 3D features to be present is a good deal, but little guidance is spent in how to properly use it. I guess this is a limitation of the format. It's a very slim book, after all. What it successfully presented as non-threatening subject, it fails in comprehensiveness. This is compensated by the fact that the authors includes website addresses, so I don't mind it all that much.

The Conclusion

I think that the book succeeds for the demographic beyond expectation. The materials included are strictly traditional coding practice, but the presentation is such that not only it is fun, but is non-threatening to the lay person. I wish more books would be like that because then the computer programming profession will truly belong to the people. This book is one of the few books that I decided to purchase in paper format, despite the fact that I already have it in digital format. The book is just that good. A must have in my library.

Book Review: The Effective Executive

The Effective Executive

by Peter F. Drucker

The Premise

Peter Drucker argues that an effective executive is neither about "talent" nor "genius". I have a great reservation about that premise. Hence, the highly popular and influential book in the business world had started with the wrong foot. I read the rest of the book with critical eyes toward its weakness. Unfair? Maybe. But it is important for a non-fiction work to be accurate, instead of pandering to every demographic in order to sell as many books as possible.

The Practice of Effectiveness

This is not to say that it's useless to try and learn to be effective, or rather more accurately, more effective than before. In this regard, the author is correct, and that a relevant set of practical habit can make a talented, genius executive to be even more effective and productive in his environment. 

In the first chapter, the author makes a distinction between smart and highly intelligent people with effective ones. What this tells me, in simple terms, is that Work=Force*Distance, or in business term, Productivity=Effort*Efficiency. I'm sure the author will happily substitute the term "Effectiveness" in there somewhere.

I note with glee that the second chapter deals with time. Among producers and other productive people, time is the most coveted resource of all. 

Time Blocking Practice

The author noted that the most effective executive practice time blocking. This is basically gathering enough uninterrupted time that is reserved for the most heavy duty thinking. Knowledge workers are valued for their knowledge, after all, and that thinking is a sizable activity for them. My personal experience agree with his observation, and I note in my observations that managers have, with deterministic observation, increasing the amount of time the workers must be available for instant consultations, and thus, breaking any effort in time blocking activities. 

Also included in the mismanagement practice, is the occurrence of endless meetings! In fact, an absurd amount of text is devoted to the denouncement of the practice. I can't help but wonder just how many meetings are there in the daily routines of a big company. Do the managers really ends up with having too many meetings? Perhaps these demanding managers can benefit a read of this book!

Part of effective time management skill is pruning: Identify the most important things and do them first. it certainly results in not having done all the things desired, but at least those things that get done are the most important ones. That is better than having distracted to death, or having overwhelmed by numerous tasks before you. This is something that I personally struggle with, that I was only able to manage it once I practice journaling. My journal is a pen and paper variety, which most informational tech nerds deride as being inefficient, but the flexibility it afforded means that I can customize it however I want, and what I want is: Everything! At least, this way, I know what to discard, and what sparks joy!

Contribution

This is another pet peeve of mine. Why bother working hard if you're not accomplishing anything? That is the very opposite of the desired result! And yet, how many managers do you know demands that the workers be working a set number of hours per day? While that may work for physical labor where you have to be on a certain place at a certain time, the knowledge workers can work from anywhere. In fact, my best, most productive time was generally spend on the bed, trying to sleep. Certainly, if the most desirable executive is the most effective one, then one must assume to spend as much time as possible in place where the most productive work is observed. Which, in my case, is my bed. Say hello to Zoom meetings!

There is a special "Nurse Bryan" section where the question asked is "Are we doing the best we can do to help this patient?" When the workers regularly asked the question, the result is better than the most official, formal problem solving technique. This, I think, encapsulates the best framing of problem solving technique, and I'm glad to see it in the book.

There are other considerations mentioned in the book, too, but to me, "Nurse Bryan" is the core idea of the book, and represents the most valuable idea in the book!

The Conclusion

Most of the book deals with time management. As I have said in the beginning, this alone isn't sufficient to be an effective executive. You have to be smart as well. However, the importance of managing time cannot be understated. I learned this the hard way. It's easy enough to say that you have to manage your time effectively, but it's another regarding how to do it. In my case, I end up keeping a journal, heavily inspired by Ryder Carroll's Bullet Journal, heavily patterned toward Project Management bias. 

Yet, that practice is validated by this book, or rather, predated by this book since this book has existed before my journaling activity. In short, if you're truly interested in being an effective executive, or just a very productive person in general, get this book!

Book Review: A Rulebook for Arguments

A Rulebook for Arguments, fourth edition

by Anthony Weston

The Premise

One would think that arguments are rather unpleasant and undesirable, and that most people would go to great length trying to avoid it. However, if you really want to broaden your horizon, then discussion of clashing ideas with other people is unavoidable. There will be some pain, to be sure, but those are good pain. Those are the growing pains of learning new things. Here, in this book, Anthony Weston has distilled the most common argument techniques, as well as various fallacies that is common in discussing ideas. If arguments are unavoidable, at least by using the techniques described here, it would be a civil one.

The Rules and Generalizations

The basic elements of a properly constructed argument includes a premise and a conclusion. The art of arguments, therefore, is to draw a logical thought that goes from premise to the conclusion. It bothers me to no end that people still engage in random arguments, using nothing but vague terms, when in fact, this book specified that you need to use concrete terms, "(4 Be concrete and concise").

You can use examples as your arguments, of course. That is described on part 2, Generalizations. You do need to use representative examples, rather than outlier, and preferably that you use more than one. Also that you're not supposed to cherry pick your examples, of what I term "Myopic arguments". Part 4 explains that you can use experts' opinions for your arguments, just be sure that they have the right expertise! In my personal experience, sometimes people are hell-bent to win an argument, that they fail to realize that they're arguing with top expert in the field, just because. 

Different Types of Arguments

The book does a great job surveying different types of arguments. In my opinion, the types of arguments presented represents a good balance between usage, utility, and coverage. Does Anthony Weston provides the most comprehensive type of arguments? He does not, and he should not. In fact, Wikipedia has more argument types, yet I do not consult Wikipedia because it's so boring! The selection here is thorough without being boring, a testament to the skill and experience of the author.

Common Fallacies

About the only weakness that I can find is about "straw man" argument. It does refer to Rule 5: Build on substance, not overtone. However, the frequent misuse that I encounter in daily basis merits, in my humble opinion, that he should expand the subject in more comprehensive manner. Since that is a weakness, and not a flaw, I can definitely say that it's a great book, indeed!

Again, the surveyed fallacies does represent most instances where they get misused. Hence, reading and utilizing the techniques described in this book will get you far ahead than most people.

The Conclusion

There are many, many times, that people relentlessly argued back and forth in some on-line community. The result is always the same: Bruised ego, hurt feelings, and no improvement whatsoever. Repeat that often enough, and the community died a lonely death. The best one can hope for is for the community to limp along, propped by a few loyal users. And yet, it is not necessarily be so. Had the people involved actually read this book, and practice the discipline to have a proper, reasoned arguments, the community would have thrive, indeed. So, you own it to yourself to read this book, a slim and easily digested volume, in order to have a good healthy community around you. 

This book may not be the most comprehensive nor authoritative, but it is eminently readable and accessible to the common person, and hence receive my utmost recommendation. It's a must read.