I've been trying for so long now to do something different. The largest obstacle I've faced is letting go of expectations.
Having worked with Asp.Net MVC for years now, I've found how Express on NodeJS handles form validation to feel very cumbersome. Technically, it doesn't even handle it and one has to rely on third party modules or one's own wits. After struggling with that one bit for a few days I dropped nodejs and moved on. I enjoyed making ViewModels with DataAnnotaions in .net that two top validation related modules I looked at seemed weak in comparison.
Now I'm trying to learn Play! using Scala. But the IDE support isn't as good as Visual Studio especially in the View templates. I've only tried the Scala plugin on Eclipse. The Play! plugin in IntelliJ IDEA only works on the Ultimate version which sounds expensive so didn't bother looking into it.
I just installed Ubuntu on my computer and really want to make the switch from Windows+C#+Visual Studio to Linux+Scala+Play but all those years getting comfortable in .net I feel will really hold me back. Everytime I hit a wall I'll be thinking back at how much easier this would be if I was using .Net or Windows that I feel this will be my biggest problem I would face.
I'm curious if you're given Ruby and/or Rails a shot?
I jumped from .NET to Rails 3 years ago and found that the ecosystem being mature and large helped me get over all the typical humps of losing IDE support (I code in vim full time now) and switching to Unix. Had I jumped in 2006 or 2007 like some of my colleagues did, this would not have been the case.
I definitely think that these days Node and Play are on the rise, but based on your post I think you should consider something a little easier to slide into for someone more used to a mature ecosystem. Once you get into the Unix-based way of programming, it won't feel like such a painful leap to jump to Scala or Node.
Actually I started out with Ruby then Rails in 2009 and moved then moved onto .Net.
Ruby and Rails will always have a special place in my heart as that's where I first truly learned how to program after being beaten into submission by Java in university. I think the point I hated programming was the time we needed to build a Swing app using Notepad. Then over a year after graduation I found Hackety Hack and _why's poignant guide and everything clicked and I knew all I wanted to do was to code.
However, as much as I loved Ruby, .Net opened my eyes to the wonders of static typing and I don't think I could live without it. The only reason I considered NodeJS and Express was because I was planning on replace JavaScript with TypeScript after learning the basics of NodeJS and Express.
I just installed Ubuntu on my PC last night and this time I'm trying to learn it right. No more copy pasting stuff into the terminal like the last 15 times in the past 8 years I've attempted to learn Linux. I make sure to read the man pages of every command before I run it so I know what its doing. I've must of extracted archives tons of times but today is the first time I understand what the arguments -xfv mean in tar -xfv FILE :)
My current methodology has me moving ever so slowly. For instance, after downloading Eclipse, I knew better than leaving it at my downloads directory. So a google search told me to put it in /opt. But that just leaves me wondering what the heck /opt is for. Some Googling led me to a document entitled "Filesystem Hierarchy Standard" which explains what all the directories in the root are for. Trying my hardest not to think about how much quicker things would be moving along if I just give in and carry on in Windows >.<
Awesome well kudos to you for pushing forward with the Unix learning. My suggestion is to get a good local mentor or coach that you can email or have coffee with once in a while to bounce things off of. That did wonders for me when I got into Ruby.
I still say you should consider just buying a cheap Mac, a lot of the things you're finding challenging aren't as big a deal. The Mac makes Unix A LOT more approachable :)
Comments
I've been trying for so long now to do something different. The largest obstacle I've faced is letting go of expectations.
Having worked with Asp.Net MVC for years now, I've found how Express on NodeJS handles form validation to feel very cumbersome. Technically, it doesn't even handle it and one has to rely on third party modules or one's own wits. After struggling with that one bit for a few days I dropped nodejs and moved on. I enjoyed making ViewModels with DataAnnotaions in .net that two top validation related modules I looked at seemed weak in comparison.
Now I'm trying to learn Play! using Scala. But the IDE support isn't as good as Visual Studio especially in the View templates. I've only tried the Scala plugin on Eclipse. The Play! plugin in IntelliJ IDEA only works on the Ultimate version which sounds expensive so didn't bother looking into it.
I just installed Ubuntu on my computer and really want to make the switch from Windows+C#+Visual Studio to Linux+Scala+Play but all those years getting comfortable in .net I feel will really hold me back. Everytime I hit a wall I'll be thinking back at how much easier this would be if I was using .Net or Windows that I feel this will be my biggest problem I would face.
I'm curious if you're given Ruby and/or Rails a shot?
I jumped from .NET to Rails 3 years ago and found that the ecosystem being mature and large helped me get over all the typical humps of losing IDE support (I code in vim full time now) and switching to Unix. Had I jumped in 2006 or 2007 like some of my colleagues did, this would not have been the case.
I definitely think that these days Node and Play are on the rise, but based on your post I think you should consider something a little easier to slide into for someone more used to a mature ecosystem. Once you get into the Unix-based way of programming, it won't feel like such a painful leap to jump to Scala or Node.
Actually I started out with Ruby then Rails in 2009 and moved then moved onto .Net.
Ruby and Rails will always have a special place in my heart as that's where I first truly learned how to program after being beaten into submission by Java in university. I think the point I hated programming was the time we needed to build a Swing app using Notepad. Then over a year after graduation I found Hackety Hack and _why's poignant guide and everything clicked and I knew all I wanted to do was to code.
However, as much as I loved Ruby, .Net opened my eyes to the wonders of static typing and I don't think I could live without it. The only reason I considered NodeJS and Express was because I was planning on replace JavaScript with TypeScript after learning the basics of NodeJS and Express.
I just installed Ubuntu on my PC last night and this time I'm trying to learn it right. No more copy pasting stuff into the terminal like the last 15 times in the past 8 years I've attempted to learn Linux. I make sure to read the man pages of every command before I run it so I know what its doing. I've must of extracted archives tons of times but today is the first time I understand what the arguments -xfv mean in tar -xfv FILE :)
My current methodology has me moving ever so slowly. For instance, after downloading Eclipse, I knew better than leaving it at my downloads directory. So a google search told me to put it in /opt. But that just leaves me wondering what the heck /opt is for. Some Googling led me to a document entitled "Filesystem Hierarchy Standard" which explains what all the directories in the root are for. Trying my hardest not to think about how much quicker things would be moving along if I just give in and carry on in Windows >.<
Awesome well kudos to you for pushing forward with the Unix learning. My suggestion is to get a good local mentor or coach that you can email or have coffee with once in a while to bounce things off of. That did wonders for me when I got into Ruby.
I still say you should consider just buying a cheap Mac, a lot of the things you're finding challenging aren't as big a deal. The Mac makes Unix A LOT more approachable :)