About Lester L. Martin II <lmartin92>
Looking for my Blog?
It's here.
About Me.
Before I get on to my set of skills and choices, here's a bit about me :-) My hobby's are computer programming, fishing, humor, and the playstation set of game systems. My main hobby is computer programming though. I like making stuff that others can use. I believe in Jesus Christ who is my Lord and Saviour. So in general, you could label me a Christian.
Programming
Of course, if I'm a computer programmer, I must know at least one programming language. Well, I know more. I enjoy general knowledge over the C family of programming languages and can adapt quickly to any of them. Out of them, the ones I know best are C, C#, and the D Programming Language. Out of them, my favorite for regular use is D, and for special use is C.
- C: I'm a self taught C programmer. I've read through a couple books, and tutorials, but most of my experience comes from just using it. I have used it for over 4 years now. It is my first language, and by all count, a very good choice. I like it's simplicity and complexity. To write things, the syntax is simple, but the logic may get to be very complex. This is a language I would recommend to beginners, and in general all programmers.
- C#: Once again, self taught. This was my second language and maybe not the best of choices. I've read through a couple books and tutorials on this one. This one was back when I used Windows XP as my OS of choice (because I didn't know of the alternatives). For windows development, it's a good choice but otherwise, it's just another language to me. It not being compiled to native code, and being heavily tied to an OS that I refuse to use unless paid to do so is a key show-stopper to developers. It's almost cross-platform due to Mono. To me, there exists better alternatives (D namely). I would recommend it to beginners, and those looking to stick with Windows and all its troubles.
- D: It all started one web search, looking for a C++ compiler. I found DMC (Digtal Mars Compiler for C and C++), and I noticed a new language on the page, D. I read through it a bit, and it really hit me as a great programming language. I wanted to use it right away. However, no internet connection (I was at the library), prohibited this for me for about a year. I remember going to the library and reading through the specs (yes, the specs) to learn it. No books existed at the time, and this is the language I truly taught myself with very, very little help. I at first used it on windows. I then joined IRC and decided to get help, and maybe contribute back. Then, someone helped me take note how dumb I was using Windows when there existed a superior alternative. I was introduced to Linux. Sometime later I got to use it, but I'll save that for my OS part. I in the end, decided to contribute back to the Tango project (the De Facto Standard Library for D). It was the best decision of my life :-) This is a programming language that I would recommend to all, and we even have a book about it now :-) For beginners, this would be an excellent language to use, but there are concepts that are easier learned from C first.
Operating Systems:
Of course, like most, I used Windows for an amount of time. It is the worst OS for me. I refuse to use it any further. It is extremely limiting, and is in the way at every chance. It controls the user, not let the user control it. The absence of a good shell is a major problem for this OS. It is buggy (blue screen at least once a month with me (on XP)), legacy crap, slow, tedious, and requires the use of tools that slow the system further. The antivirus, antimalware, and antispyware stuff just bugs me. I have no need for this in my favorite Operating System.
Linux:
I have an exciting history with linux, and have tried many distros as my experience grew. I currently am using Fedora, as it is pretty up to date, secure, and stable. I have used Mepis, Debian, Ubuntu (and derivatives), Arch Linux, Gentoo, OpenSuse, CoLinux, Puppy Linux, and probably a couple more that I have forgotten by now. It took me a while to get to use it though because no internet really messes this up for you (along with no money). I am very happy with linux, and it does all that I need, plus some and always offers plenty of alternatives. I chose Fedora mainly because some of the systems I used were not up to date enough (Mepis, Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, OpenSuse) unless using the unstable set of packages. Others because some things I wanted automagic weren't. Fedora is an ok mix of both, easy to use, and easy to use. Easy to use as a desktop, and for development for further explanation. D was an easy setup for me on this OS. It's package manager has yet to bite a huge chunk out of some part of my body. It is also fairly up to date. Waiting 6-8 months for a release is good since it will be still fairly up to date until then. Installation was a breeze.
Linux:
I have an exciting history with linux, and have tried many distros as my experience grew. I currently am using Fedora, as it is pretty up to date, secure, and stable. I have used Mepis, Debian, Ubuntu (and derivatives), Arch Linux, Gentoo, OpenSuse, CoLinux, Puppy Linux, and probably a couple more that I have forgotten by now. It took me a while to get to use it though because no internet really messes this up for you (along with no money). I am very happy with linux, and it does all that I need, plus some and always offers plenty of alternatives. I chose Fedora mainly because some of the systems I used were not up to date enough (Mepis, Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, OpenSuse) unless using the unstable set of packages. Others because some things I wanted automagic weren't. Fedora is an ok mix of both, easy to use, and easy to use. Easy to use as a desktop, and for development for further explanation. D was an easy setup for me on this OS. It's package manager has yet to bite a huge chunk out of some part of my body. It is also fairly up to date. Waiting 6-8 months for a release is good since it will be still fairly up to date until then. Installation was a breeze.
Education
I'm still in high school. This will be my last year.
Systems
I've went through 4 systems... starting from slow to fast.
I had such an old machine that I don't even really know what it was.
I had a Celeron system that I fail to know the specs of.
I've had an Athlon 64 X2 Socket 939 4200+ 2.2 GHZ system that I enjoyed for while.
And now I have this system.
A custom built computer consisting, but not necessarily limited to the following:
Phenom II X3 720 BE OC'd to 3.4 GHZ
8 GB of DDR3 1333 (10666) MHZ RAM
2 500 GB Sata 3.0 Gbps Drives
ASUS MA478T-E Mother board
NVIDIA 9800 GTX+
DVD+/-RW Drive
and plenty more generic stuff including the case... overall a very nice system, proud to say "I built it myself"
I had such an old machine that I don't even really know what it was.
I had a Celeron system that I fail to know the specs of.
I've had an Athlon 64 X2 Socket 939 4200+ 2.2 GHZ system that I enjoyed for while.
And now I have this system.
A custom built computer consisting, but not necessarily limited to the following:
Phenom II X3 720 BE OC'd to 3.4 GHZ
8 GB of DDR3 1333 (10666) MHZ RAM
2 500 GB Sata 3.0 Gbps Drives
ASUS MA478T-E Mother board
NVIDIA 9800 GTX+
DVD+/-RW Drive
and plenty more generic stuff including the case... overall a very nice system, proud to say "I built it myself"
Projects
Of course, head over to my Projects page.
