I have experimented with the Rosetta Code website as a way to learn more about computer technology. I have mentioned my exploration of the edX and OCW web sites in earlier posts so I thought I would mention Rosetta Code or RC as another way to learn.
The RC site displays code in a variety of programming languages so that you can compare the languages. They define certain tasks and people post code that performs the tasks. For example, the task could be to write a simple Hello World program that writes Hello World to the screen. The site shows how to do this in Java, Python, C, and others. At this moment there are 354 implementations of Hello World on the site. I added this simple one for Oracle’s version of SQL: My Hello World
But, I can’t help wondering if this is just a fun game or is it really educational? I just finished a task this morning that was interesting to me. It is a draft task which means that people have not yet written enough example programs for the site managers to publish it as an official task. But anyone can see it. I’ve written the Python and PL/SQL examples. This 4 squares problem is just a puzzle or game but it was interesting to think about solving it in a declarative way with SQL and not a procedural way with Python or any other regular language. Maybe there is value in looking at these tasks and thinking about how SQL and relational database thinking could be applied?
Anyway, I just thought I would document what I have done with the RC site. Be careful because once you start working up example code for the site it can become addictive! I am still thinking about what the real value of the site is but it has helped me exercise my programming muscles and think a bit about SQL. Check it out if you think it has value.