can’t see the forest through the trees

:on the kernel | linux vs. unix | operating system vs. ubuntu vs. virtual machine | shell vs. bash | command line vs. terminal As daunting as I imagined the task of writing this article would be, it wasn’t worse than the feeling I continually face of having to learn to program software without a solid grasp of the meaning of the aforementioned components and applications. I often feel confused as to the differences between each of the above listed components and systems. My main problem is that I miss the big picture of how my computer software that I utilize is structured and connected to the rest of my computer. This also creates problems for how I communicate about what I’ve coded on my computer, especially for people that use different software and different machines. Not being able to explain how I’ve been using a computer is at least unflattering and certainly […]

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computer compilers: brief introduction

:on how a compiler works, using the GNU Compiler Collection gcc as an examplecompiler: gcc (Ubuntu 4.8.4-2ubuntu1~14.04.3) 4.8.4 environment: vagrant virtual machine with linux 14.04.5 LTS for Ubuntu language: C languageIf you have begun to experiment with and learn about computer code and software languages, after the early 1980’s, it is very likely that you began using higher level languages, and much later learned about compilers. At least this is how I have begun to learn to code computer languages. I have been touching the surface of html, css, javascript, and PHP for almost 2 years, and I never knew what a compiler was. This is because these languages are interpreted by a browser or another lower-level environment instead of being compiled. The browser or other environment reads the instructions and uses its own logic and mechanisms to interpret and respond to the input codes. Did you ever wonder how a browser […]

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