Thinking Like a Programmer

I’ve been trying to learn to code for a long time. I took a Python course on Udacity and a JavaScript course on Coursera, and these were great experiences that really got me interested in coding. Then I started doing lessons on Codecademy, where I learned the basics of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. These lessons were really fun and informative. I’m very thankful for all of these opportunities to learn and to explore my interest in computer programming.

But I didn’t really learn to code until I took Foundations of Computer Science at my college. I came into the class with a pretty good knowledge of the basic syntax of programming. I knew how to write a for loop and how to solve basic problems by coding. But that class offered me something I didn’t get anywhere else. In my Computer Science class, I learned how to think like a programmer.

It’s one thing to know how to write code. I think anyone can learn that. You just memorize how to communicate with the computer in whatever language you’re using, and you spit it back out at the computer. And using this knowledge, you can do some pretty cool stuff under the right circumstances. But there is a limit to how much you can really do with just a knowledge of a computer language, and I hit that limit with my online studies.

And because I hit that limit, I got burned out. I stopped trying to learn. I thought that I had learned all there was to know and that I just didn’t have a knack for it. Codecademy kept giving me exercises to do, and if I couldn’t do them in one or two tries, I would find a way to trick the computer into thinking I had done what it had asked, or I’d look up the answer on Google. I wasn’t really programming.

Then I enrolled in my CS class at school, and somewhere admist the lectures, programming exercises, and exams, something changed. I learned to think like a programmer. I learned to approach challenges in coding not as obstacles to be overcome, but as puzzles to solve. I learned to break them down into pieces and to get excited when I could finally get all the pieces to fit together just right. I learned to be persistent when I ran into a wall and to try different approaches when my initial ideas inevitably didn’t work. I learned to code, and it felt great.

I owe most of this to my professor, Dr. Ferrer, who was very patient with everyone in my class and really made an effort to teach us not just the basic syntax of programming, but also how to approach programming. He even put the entire course schedule on hold and postponed a test because he felt like some of us weren’t ready. He wasn’t just concerned with providing the information so we could reproduce it on an exam. He wanted to teach us how to think like programmers, and he wanted us to love coding.

I’m proud to say my love for coding has been revived. And now that I can think like a programmer instead of just trying to reproduce the right syntax over and over, I have no limit to what I can do with my programming knowledge. I’m going back to the online class route and taking Stanford’s Programming Methodology class through iTunes U. I’m really enjoying it, and I can see how different the experience of coding is now than it was before. I hope to continue to learn more about programming and eventually develop my own app for phones and tablets. It’ll be a while before I get anywhere near that point in my programming skill, but I’m so excited to learn more about coding every day, and I can’t wait to see what I’ll learn to do next.

Side note: If you don’t know how to code, you really should give it a try. Learning how to communicate with computers on their own terms is not only a great mind exercise, it’s also a marketable skill. Plus, it’s just really fun! Resources for learning to code are everywhere. I personally suggest taking an introductory-level Computer Science class at your local university or trying out Codecademy to get started. Good luck, and happy coding!

New About Me Page

Hey, friends! I spent a couple of hours writing up a shiny new About Me page, so if you want to check it out, that would be awesome. Believe it or not, trying to sum yourself up in 500 words is pretty difficult, but I did my best. The Vizify bio was fun while it lasted, but I think the new page is a more meaningful and centralized way of describing myself.

As usual, thank you for reading. I hope you’re all having a great time getting ready for Christmas, and I’ll see you on Tuesday for our regularly-scheduled blog post!

Just Say Jesus

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31)

This verse is taken from Luke’s version of the Christmas story. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and gave her the news that she was going to have a son. The end of the verse in ESV reads, “and you shall call His name Jesus.”

Of course, Gabriel wasn’t speaking English. He spoke to Mary in her own language, which was most likely Aramaic, a language similar to Hebrew. So what Gabriel said out loud was not that Mary should call her child Jesus (His English name), but Yeshua.

So Jesus’ name in His native language was Yeshua. In school, He wrote Yeshua on His homework. When He was out and about, if someone asked Him what His name was, He would reply with, “Yeshua.” When someone called out to Him in a crowd, they said, “Hey, Yeshua!” That was His name.

Now there’s nothing wrong with calling Him Jesus. That’s His English name, after all, which comes from the Greek pronounciation Iēsous (imagine a rough “h” at the beginning of the word). I am personally fond of the name Jesus. It sets Him apart from other people who share His Hebrew name, like the Old Testament ruler Joshua. Plus, I think it’s just a cool name.

But something gets lost when we translate Jesus’ name from Hebrew to English. In the Bible, the meaning of a person’s name tells us a lot about who that person is, and Jesus is no exception. I think Christians would do well to examine the meaning of Jesus’ name in its original language and take it to heart.

The name Yeshua is made up of two parts that are based on words in the Hebrew language. “Ye” is short for Yahweh, the name of God, and is usually translated “the Lord.” And “shua” means “to deliver” or “to save.” So when you put these two parts together, Jesus’ name literally means, “The Lord saves.”

You see, when you say the name “Jesus,” you’re doing more than just referring to someone, even though that Someone is the most important someone in history. When you say the name of Jesus, you are making a bold statement. Whether you know it or not, you’re proclaiming to the world, “My God saves!” And that’s pretty incredible.

We worship the most incredible, most holy, most awesome Being in the universe. We worship a God who loved us enough to come to earth and die just so we could have a relationship with Him. We worship a God whose very name is a statement of His power and of His love for us. Jesus! What a name!

So the next time you’re praying or singing a praise song or even just talking about Jesus, remember what exactly you’re saying when you say His name. When you’re struggling with something and you just can’t find the words, simply say His name. Say Jesus. Because His name is powerful. His name is inpsiring. Jesus! Our God saves. Praise God!

Finals

Hey, friends. I just wanted to write a short blog post to let you know why there isn’t a long blog post this week. The past week has just been so crazy, and now I’m trying to prepare for finals, so I’m going to take a week off from blogging. I’m sure you’re all super-bummed that you don’t get to read a 600-word exposition on the spiritual implications of allergy shots, but don’t worry! I’ll have a real blog post next week, I promise. Thank you for reading and for all your support. You guys are the best, and I’m so thankful that I get to connect with each one of you.

More Than the Sum of Your Parts

I often try to define myself by the things that I think are most interesting about me. The things I like that people don’t expect me to like or that no one else likes. The things that make me different. My long hair. My love for Mello Yello. My insistence on wearing flip flops year-round. I once tried to sum myself up by saying I’m a preacher boy and my favorite color is purple. How foolish.

Those things do not define me. I am not just the way I look. I am not just the way I dress. I am not just made up of my preferences and the list of the things that make me different from everyone else. I am so much more than that.

There is an idea in psychology called the Gestalt principle. Basically it says that a thing is always more than the sum of its parts. This may sound a little abstract, so let’s look at an example. Look at the image below. What do you see?

You probably see a panda bear. But if you look closely, the image really isn’t of a panda bear. It’s several disconnected black shapes on a white background, but when they come together, they form the image of an animal. The whole (the image of the panda) is more than the sum of its parts (several disconnected black shapes).

I think we would do well to see ourselves this way. We are more than the sum of our parts. You can take all of my experiences, all of my successes (and failures), all of my preferences, all of my characteristics, everything I’ve ever said and done and been in my entire life and put them all together. And yet, that will never completely define who I am. I will always somehow be more than that.

If none of these things defines me, then what does? What is the “more?” I find the answer to that question in scripture. In Genesis 1:26, the Bible tell us that God made man in His image. I have no idea what specifically this verse is referring to, but I know that there is something inside of me, something about me, that reflects the image of my God. How incredible is that? John 1:12 tells me that through Christ, I have the right to become a child of God. Not only am I made in God’s image, but I am God’s child. In Christ, I find my identity as God’s child and God’s reflection on this earth. This is who I am. This is the “more” that nothing else about me could eever even come close to adding up to.

And the same is true for you. No matter what it is you try to define yourself as, whether it be an activity (“I’m an athlete”) or a talent (“I’m a singer”) or anything else, you will always be more than that. You are more than your mistakes. You are more than your achievements. You are more than your actions and your intentions and your feelings and your regrets. You are a reflection of the God who made you. And through Christ, you have an opportunity to become a child of God! I can’t think of anything more interesting or more special than that.

So here’s my challenge to you. Don’t define yourself by your mistakes. Or by your achievements. Or by what makes you unique. Find your identity in Christ today and find peace in the fact that you are God’s child made in His image, and that is the only identity you’ll ever need.

You are more than the choices that you’ve made. You are more than the sum of your past mistakes.

You are more than the problems you create. You’ve been remade.