# One strange question

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/one-strange-question/141011>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [June 20, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/one-strange-question/141011 "2008-06-20T19:56:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/lgvalle)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/one-strange-question/141011/1 "2008-06-20T19:56:20Z")

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Hi all, I’m 17 years old, I know XHTML,CSS,PHP+MySQL, few JavaScript and  
Ruby.  
I want to know, enough to be programmer?

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/lgvalle)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/one-strange-question/141011/2 "2008-06-20T20:00:59Z")

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You are great.

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**Author:** ![lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/lgvalle)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/one-strange-question/141011/3 "2008-06-23T14:50:34Z")

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It all depends on how you use them.

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**Author:** ![lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/lgvalle)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/one-strange-question/141011/4 "2008-06-23T15:11:08Z")

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luka luka [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) writes:

> Hi all, I’m 17 years old, I know XHTML,CSS,PHP+MySQL, few JavaScript and  
> Ruby.  
> I want to know, enough to be programmer?

Far from it. Read these books:

```
    Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
    http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-4.html
    http://swiss.csail.mit.edu/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-lectures/

    How to Design Programs -- An Introduction to Computing and 

```

Programming  
[How to Design Programs: An Introduction to Computing and Programming](http://www.htdp.org/2003-09-26/Book/)

```
    Concrete Abstractions -- An Introduction to Computer Science 

```

Using Scheme  
[Concrete Abstractions](http://www.gustavus.edu/+max/concrete-abstractions.html)

(Don’t worry about scheme, it’s just some pseudo-code. You can still  
do the exercises in Ruby; have a look at:  
[http://www.codepoetics.com/wiki/index.php?title=Topics:SICP\_in\_other\_languages](http://www.codepoetics.com/wiki/index.php?title=Topics:SICP_in_other_languages)  
(of course, I would advise you to learn scheme and/or Common Lisp and do  
SICP  
exercises in these languages, but Ruby is OK)).

Once you’ve learned SICP, and a few other programming languages, it’ll  
start to look more like it.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/lgvalle)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/one-strange-question/141011/5 "2008-06-23T15:27:33Z")

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L. G. wrote:

> Hi all, I’m 17 years old, I know XHTML,CSS,PHP+MySQL, few JavaScript and  
> Ruby.  
> I want to know, enough to be programmer?

While it is not clear what level of expertise you indicate when you say  
that you “know” those languages, being able to write programs in those  
are indeed enough to be a programmer, but that is not the end of the  
story. What kind of programmer? e.g. It is plenty to make you a  
website programmer but large system architect would take more.

In short, knowing how to write programs makes you a programmer. After  
that, it is a question of how high you want to fly, but you are moving  
at least. Now, to get it off the ground…

GL with your programming future! 🙂

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@lgvalle](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/lgvalle)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/one-strange-question/141011/6 "2008-06-23T22:37:12Z")

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Thanks Manish.

> It all depends on how you use them.  
> Of course.

And Thanks you Pascal, I will read this articles.  
You really helped me.

Have you same links? example:  
[http://www.codepoetics.com/wiki/index.php?title=Topics:SICP\_in\_other\_languages](http://www.codepoetics.com/wiki/index.php?title=Topics:SICP_in_other_languages)

P.S. sorry for my english, I’m from Georgia.