Class Journal Week 4

Nicole Anguiano

1. Based on what you read here, would you consider sed to be a language? Why or why not?
   • I wouldn't consider sed so much a language as much as it is a function in Bash. Sed takes in an input and gives an output depending on what parameters you've given it. It allows certain parameters and will error on incorrect parameters. Outputs from sed can be fed as an input into another sed. In thus, it seems to act to me more like a function of a language than a language itself. Sed cannot really be used to do much else other than text conversion - replacing a characters or series of characters with other characters, and editing a file. A programming language can allow the user to perform a wide variety of operations on many different inputs, using different methods and functions.
2. Of the languages that are skimmed in these sections, which one (in the brief exposure this article gives) appeals to you the most, and why? (yes, we are also expecting the biology majors to answer this—no obligation to fully understand the languages nor examples; just share what you like about what you see)
   • While my first reaction was to answer this question with "Javascript", on further inspection, I think that Python appeals to me the most. While I am very comfortable with Javascript and know it well, Python appeals to me as a language due to its use in many systems and its potential to be used in many applications, both web and otherwise. The fact that Python can serve as a wrapper for other languages also intrigues me, as it indicates a depth to the language that I haven't observed in other languages that I've explored.
3. Would you agree that coders are “angry?” Are biologists “angry” too? Why do you think so? (quid pro quo—computer scientists should answer this also, to the degree that you know biology and biologists)
   • I would agree that coders are angry, as are biologists. I think that some of the anger comes from the natural human tendency to want everyone to think in the same way that they do. This is especially relevant for coders, who tend to be very vocal about the languages they like and dislike, regardless of whether or not their claims are true. However, I would agree with the claim that programmers are angry because they are scared. Computer science as a field is constantly shifting, and languages that are king one day could be obsolete the next. It requires the programmer to always be on top of the newest developments in computer science - the newest languages, tools, and systems. While for some this is exciting and part of the draw of computer science, for other it is something that brings about anger. While I tend to fall into the former group, I can understand why it would be a cause for fear and anger. I know there are languages I am proficient in now that may be useless to my career in the future, regardless of how much I enjoy the language.
   • For this same reason, I would say biologists are angry. A biologist can dedicate years to researching something that may result in no discoveries worth noting. A biologist can spend a long time perfecting a technique, only to have it replaced by something else. Biology is a field that is also changing and growing all the time. New discoveries can make in-process research projects obsolete. Theories considered true for a very long time can be disproven at any time. Though some may find excitement in this change, others may not. I think it is a natural human reaction to fear change, and to develop anger towards that change. Since computer science and biology are frequently changing, I can fully understand why both computer scientists and biologists may be angry.

- Nanguiano (talk) 14:31, 22 September 2015 (PDT)

Emily Simso

1. Based on what you read here, would you consider sed to be a language? Why or why not?
   • I think I would consider "sed" to be a form of a language, though a rather rudimentary one, because it still takes a certain level of knowledge and understanding to realize what sed is able to do and perform. While there are clearly more advanced and technical languages available, I think sed is a sort of introductory language, especially for someone new to the command line.
2. Of the languages that are skimmed in these sections, which one (in the brief exposure this article gives) appeals to you the most, and why? (yes, we are also expecting the biology majors to answer this—no obligation to fully understand the languages nor examples; just share what you like about what you see)
   • I think I like Python the most because it seems the most applicable. Since it has the pre-loaded modules, a user could manipulate Python for a variety of situations and fields. I think Python also seems to be fairly user friendly, so that a beginning programmer could still be very effective in their projects. It also seemed interesting to me to think of how coding can be used in these different areas.
3. Would you agree that coders are “angry?” Are biologists “angry” too? Why do you think so? (quid pro quo—computer scientists should answer this also, to the degree that you know biology and biologists)
   • I would agree that colors are angry, because there are not only so many languages to choose from currently, but a new one could appear at any time to disrupt the current flow. Since the industry is so fast past and based upon a short-attention span mindset, it would be frustrating constantly juggle the changes. It seems that a lot of work is done based upon personal preference for one language or another, meaning that things could get problematic if someone takes offense at another individual's comments. It was also be difficult to work between all of the different languages and "interpret" what other people are saying or working on.
   • I would also say that biologists are angry, because there are so many different specialties in biology, but everyone thinks theirs is the most important. Similarly, an individual can spend years researching a topic, but then new technology can emerge that makes their findings either obsolete, or that could have found the same answer in a shorter time frame. Biologists might also be angry because the field is constantly changing and there is so much new information coming in all the time; it makes it difficult to get a firm grasp on a concept or area of study.

Emilysimso (talk) 15:40, 26 September 2015 (PDT)

Brandon Klein

1. Based on what you read here, would you consider sed to be a language? Why or why not?
   • emulates some of the fundamentals of languages as described in the article
     • could be considered as having a standards library and not only a specific syntax but a feel
   • however, I do not believe it stands alone as a language
     • sed is a command present within a specific language
     • sed itself only offers one variation on the theme; it is a part that is representative of the whole (synecdoche?), but note entirely
2. Of the languages that are skimmed in these sections, which one (in the brief exposure this article gives) appeals to you the most, and why? (yes, we are also expecting the biology majors to answer this—no obligation to fully understand the languages nor examples; just share what you like about what you see)
   • contenders:
     • C: powerful, rewards a meticulous mindset, works and is used across all servers, foundation of unix, seen as foundational knowledge for serious programmers, has many more specific derivations
     • Python: user-friendly, versatile, quickly growing; the article claims languages emulate culture, and python is the culture being embraced by the U.S.
3. Would you agree that coders are “angry?” Are biologists “angry” too? Why do you think so? (quid pro quo—computer scientists should answer this also, to the degree that you know biology and biologists)
   • Both coders and biologists share a certain superficial anger. This is a response to the volatile nature of their fields. As the article suggests, it is often a defensive response. Individuals want to validate their language proficiency, or area of research. However, these fields could be changed at any time by the work of another, and all of this knowledge could be invalidated. Although this comes off as anger, it is also a product of passion. Only because individuals want to defend and validate that which they are personally passionate about within their fields do they get angry.

--Bklein7 (talk) 19:53, 27 September 2015 (PDT)

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Anu Varshneya

1. Based on what you read here, would you consider sed to be a language? Why or why not?
   • Based on what I read, I consider sed to be a language, but only barely. The article announced several characteristics that define a language, but ultimately the purpose of a language is to make a computer do what you want it to without having to spell everything out in binary. A computer language, to my understanding, has programmer-friendly language that has been defined to be interpreted by the computer in a certain way. So far with my experiences with sed, I have used several different functions in order to have the computer do what I want. These functions came built into the sed system, and all I had to do was plug in values that I wanted manipulated.
2. Of the languages that are skimmed in these sections, which one (in the brief exposure this article gives) appeals to you the most, and why? (yes, we are also expecting the biology majors to answer this—no obligation to fully understand the languages nor examples; just share what you like about what you see)
   • Of the languages mentioned, I like Python the most. Python is very user friendly and is a simple language to use, but it also allows you to perform more complex programming practices such as object oriented programming. Though C is an important language to understand how robust the you must make the information you send to a computer, it can get tiresome to use for longer or more complicated programs. Smalltalk sounds interesting in that it is supposed to be a "human friendly" version of C, but it was vaguely compared to Java which automatically makes me not love it as much as Python. I am interested in learning a little more about it, but after reading the article and using Python in the past, I can easily say it is my favorite language out of those mentioned in the article.
3. Would you agree that coders are “angry?” Are biologists “angry” too? Why do you think so? (quid pro quo—computer scientists should answer this also, to the degree that you know biology and biologists)
   • I don't agree that either coders or biologists are "angry" in the usual sense of the word, but the article describes angry as competitive, and with that I can agree. Computer science and biology are similar that in order to remain competitive in the field, you must stay on the forefront of research and discoveries made in the field, while also proving that the work you are producing is important and relevant to the field. Both coders and biologists have specific intentions regarding what they hope to achieve within their career, and they are both working very hard with and against other in order to achieve their goals.

--Anuvarsh (talk) 10:56, 28 September 2015 (PDT)

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Lena Olufson

1. Based on what you read here, would you consider sed to be a language? Why or why not?
   • I would not consider sed to be a language because I do not think that it has as broad of a range and set of various functions to be considered a language. Sed is better at following commands and inputs to produce desired outputs, sort of acting like a function button. You type in and command what changes you want sed to make and apply to your files, and sed goes through and applies all of those changes. From my understanding, a language has a more vast capability and has many more routes and inputs within it, making it different than what sed is.
2. Of the languages that are skimmed in these sections, which one (in the brief exposure this article gives) appeals to you the most, and why? (yes, we are also expecting the biology majors to answer this—no obligation to fully understand the languages nor examples; just share what you like about what you see)
   • I was interested by the C language because it was such a large and widely used one that is seen all of the world today. It was cool to learn that the C language was created in the late 1960s, and yet it is still continued to be used everyday and everywhere now. From what I could understand, C has a very practical way of working as it allows for new utilities to be written and added to the utility library. C sounds like a simple and understandable language that allows people to control every part of a computer, however it has the potential to be dangerous if used incorrectly. The article also explained how fast C is and how you can make the language run faster depending on how you control it.
3. Would you agree that coders are “angry?” Are biologists “angry” too? Why do you think so? (quid pro quo—computer scientists should answer this also, to the degree that you know biology and biologists)
   • I do think that coders are "angry" in a certain sense. They are angry mostly out of fear though; the fear of job stability and security. There are always people out there that will be more experiences in a certain language than you and so if you do not keep yourself up to speed and current then you run the risk of being replaced. Coders also come across as angry because they often feel the need to have a quick response to obstacles and questions presented to them. They often blurt out the blunt answer as soon as they can to make sure they beat those around them. I would also say that biologists are "angry" in the same sense as coders are. Biologists live in a competitive and exciting work environment in which new advances and discoveries are being made everyday and so it is a race to see who can figure out something first. If a biologist is working in a lab to field but does not know how to use the advanced equipment as well as a newer and younger biologist, then the older biologist runs the risk of being replaced.

-- Lenaolufson (talk) 14:17, 28 September 2015 (PDT)

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Josh Kuroda

1. Based on what you read here, would you consider sed to be a language? Why or why not?
   • I don't think that sed is a language, rather, I think it is simply a utility that is a part of linux/unix. I also feel that a language needs to be able to do more than just a single function. sed is complex, to a certain extent, but languages are so much more detailed and complex than just sed
2. Of the languages that are skimmed in these sections, which one (in the brief exposure this article gives) appeals to you the most, and why? (yes, we are also expecting the biology majors to answer this—no obligation to fully understand the languages nor examples; just share what you like about what you see)
   • I like python. Mostly because I have had past experience with C and Java, and I like that python has that level of abstraction. Although it is sometimes nice to use Java when solving problems, I feel like python is easier for others to understand and I like that it has those libraries for us to use.
3. Would you agree that coders are “angry?” Are biologists “angry” too? Why do you think so? (quid pro quo—computer scientists should answer this also, to the degree that you know biology and biologists)
   • I would agree that coders are "angry," only because I myself have had many arguments and discussions with friends over why I often choose to code in ruby over python. Once you like a language, you really like it. In the same way, changing and learning a new language after having no problems with a current one is frustrating. From what I've learned about the biology world, I would say that biologists aren't as angry, because they seem to be more concerned with the sharing of data and knowledge regarding biology. For them, it doesn't matter what means a scientist uses to find the cure to cancer, they just want to achieve that common goal of solidifying a cure.

-- Jkuroda (talk) 18:12, 28 September 2015 (PDT)

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Mary Alverson

1. Based on what you read here, would you consider sed to be a language? Why or why not?
   • I didn’t consider sed to be a language before reading this question, but now I would consider it one. This is because sed has a standard library of sorts. It has the s/ commands that search, the y/ commands that replace, the command that gets rid of line breaks and I assume more. Within those sed commands there are many variations that manipulate the output. The only thing that made me think that sed was not a language was that the sed code also works with the cat code, and the grep code. That led me to believe that grep, cat, and sed were all programs in a standard library of some other language. This, however, does not necessitate that grep, cat and sed are all the same language. For example, the reading said that Python can cooperate with other languages such as C.
2. Of the languages that are skimmed in these sections, which one (in the brief exposure this article gives) appeals to you the most, and why? (yes, we are also expecting the biology majors to answer this—no obligation to fully understand the languages nor examples; just share what you like about what you see)
   • I think I am biased based one the language that I have programmed with the most, but after reading this article I still find Java most appealing. This is for a few reasons. One reason that was touched upon in this article is that so many employers and places use Java, or at least require the knowledge of Java. From an “I need to get employed” perspective, learning Java makes sense. Apart from that, I like Java because it is a language that is easy to stay organized in. I like that I can organize my code in many methods based on what object those methods will be useful to. I would much rather many short methods rather than a few long ones because short methods are easier to understand what they do, and also easier to debug.
3. Would you agree that coders are “angry?” Are biologists “angry” too? Why do you think so? (quid pro quo—computer scientists should answer this also, to the degree that you know biology and biologists)
   • I don’t think that coders are angry but I also haven’t come across many coders in person who are forced to continually learn new languages in order to stay useful in their careers since I mostly come in contact with other students. I still don’t think coder’s are that angry though, I would just say passionate. For example, after writing the answer to question number two I can realize that I like the Java language. If someone wanted me to write a program in Python that I thought would be easier to write and understand in Java, I would probably be a bit angry. I have not seen an “angry” biologist and I wouldn’t say they are angry because science is always changing because of new experiments and findings and I think an integral part of the scientific field is being open to those new changes, but also challenging them to make sure that the new findings are true. The culture is to challenge each other but in a way that will eventually benefit everyone. I think scientists want to be challenged so they can improve their findings and processes, so are open to other’s ideas.

--Malverso (talk) 18:14, 28 September 2015 (PDT)

Kristin Zebrowski

1. Based on what you read here, would you consider sed to be a language? Why or why not?
   • I don’t think that sed counts as a language—at least, not in the way that C or Java or Python are. Sure, it’s a way to process instructions to make the computer do what you want, but only to an extent. I haven’t had any experiences with computer languages apart from the very basic instructions through sed, but even then, I feel like it is quite limiting after reading this article. I feel like it is just a part of Unix, albeit a useful part

Kzebrows (talk) 18:16, 28 September 2015 (PDT)

Jake Woodlee

1. Based on what you read here, would you consider sed to be a language? Why or why not?
2. Of the languages that are skimmed in these sections, which one (in the brief exposure this article gives) appeals to you the most, and why? (yes, we are also expecting the biology majors to answer this—no obligation to fully understand the languages nor examples; just share what you like about what you see)
3. Would you agree that coders are “angry?” Are biologists “angry” too? Why do you think so? (quid pro quo—computer scientists should answer this also, to the degree that you know biology and biologists)

Jwoodlee (talk) 18:37, 28 September 2015 (PDT)