Lost Programming Skills | PCWorld August 05, 2011, 8:30 AM — Back to basicsThis still comes back to the basic guideline: 'learn your fundamentals.' You don't need to learn them all (designing CPU instruction sets??), but you do need to know the primary layers you interact with. A web programmer generally doesn't need to be aware of the machine code generated by his application, but should be knowledgeable in networking (layer 3 and up), caching, databases, and so on. Hacker News user ominous_prime | What's your take? Today's coders may know how to whip up a PHP script or a Drupal extension, create a mobile app for both the iPhone and Android, and run DOOM on their car's GPS (which has been done, it turns out). Some of these skills aren't likely to be needed again, any more than most of us need to know how to ride a horse or (sigh) drive a manual-transmission vehicle. [ Programming magic: Rituals and habits of effective programmers | Sign up for ITworld newsletters ]
The 2008 PC Builder's Bible Getting your hands dirty and building your own system is what separates PC gamers from their console brethren, and it just so happens to be one of the most exciting parts of our hobby. Unfortunately, it’s also a pretty daunting process for anyone who hasn’t assembled his own rig from scratch. Thankfully, this guide not only gives you all you need to know about every component that goes in your gaming PC, but also thoroughly walks you through the entire building process with detailed instructions and helpful photographs. We’ve always written the PC Builder’s Bible not only as a guide for new system builders who want more versatility from their computer, but also for hardcore enthusiasts who have to be on the cutting edge of technological innovation. Above: Building your own PC isn’t as difficult as it seems. Wrap your head around the various motherboard chipsets that create the backbone of your gaming PC. CPUS Dual core or quad core? RAM DDR2 or DDR3? - Choose the RAM that’s right for you