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| Subject: | [gislist] Learning a GIS language (was: donut polygons - SUM) |
| Date: |
12/12/2003 01:10:00 PM |
| From: |
Quantitative Decisions |
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At 10:13 AM 12/12/2003 -0800, Dimitri Rotow wrote:
>IMHO if you are going to take the time
>to learn a language it would be wisest to learn a Microsoft language.
>Microsoft languages are used in a vast array of modern applications, so that
>if you learn a Microsoft language your expertise is valuable in many more
>circumstances than it would be with a proprietary language that works only
>with a single, aging application. ESRI appears to agree, given the direction
>their newer products are taking.
I have to agree in part, since Dimitri has his facts right as usual, but I
would like to clarify an important point that his post and many others seem
to overlook: the work lies not with learning the language, but with
learning its use. Anybody can learn Basic or Avenue in between a few
minutes and few hours, depending on their programming background. However,
if all you know is Basic or Avenue, then you are in for a shock when you
try to use it in a GIS application. To use Avenue expertly, you need to be
familiar with several thousand 'requests' made to over 900 classes. To use
ESRI's VBA for ArcGIS expertly, you need to be familiar with many thousands
of requests made to over 1200 classes. (Several years ago Jack Dangermond
touted it, with some kind of perverse pride, as "the largest and most
complex COM system ever built according to Microsoft".) I am not familiar
with MapInfo's MapBasic or Manifold's version of VBA scripting, but am
confident that users face similar hurdles to learning.
By far the worst attempts I have seen made to program any GIS come from
people who either (a) do not know anything about programming or (b) know
only the rudiments of Basic (it's like the proverbial hammer: once you've
learned Basic, you try to do everything the Basic way, which--being a least
common denominator among computer languages--is usually bad) or (c) know
nothing about GIS. The common thread here is that these are the people who
_only_ learned the GIS language, but never picked up how to use it
appropriately or well.
IMHO, the intellectual efforts that pay off both immediately and during a
career of using computers (which is part of the GIS profession) are those
that (a) focus on learning good programming and software engineering
principles such as data structures, algorithms, writing reusable code,
etc.: and (b) focus on understanding how GIS-related objects 'work': this
can include database design principles, computer graphics, map projections,
network algorithms, map algebra, etc., etc. Notice I said nothing here
about learning the details of any one particular language, because that
teaches little of permanent value.
From this point of view, very little is wasted when one puts effort into
learning Avenue, ESRI's VBA, Manifold's Basic, or whatever, because
learning at the more general, abstract level I advocate translates fairly
well from one product to another. After all, although the long-term future
of any software product is uncertain, one thing is guaranteed: the language
you will be using to interact with a GIS when you retire will bear very
little resemblance to the language you learned at the beginning of your
career. ALL applications age. Be prepared to learn and change.
Cheers,
Bill Huber
Quantitative Decisions
www.quantdec.com
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