Ruby Rogues

Panel: Charles Max Wood

Guest: Dr. Neil Brown

This week on My Ruby Story, Charles talks with Dr. Neil Brown who is a researcher. He helps people teach “how to program” more effectively and efficiently. Check out his social media pages and his research via the web. Chuck and Neil talk about his research among other topics.

In particular, we dive pretty deep on:

0:52 – Chuck: We are talking with Neil Brown.

1:05 – Chuck: I’ve always wanted to go to London! Let’s dive in and talk about you and how you got into all of this stuff.

1:40 – Neil: I was in primary/elementary school and sometime there I went to my dad and I asked him how are these games made? He gave me a book.

3:12 – Chuck: What are some things that you are researching?

3:24 – Neil answers the question.

5:24 – Chuck: How do you know what to look into and how do you test your hypotheses? There is some science there.

5:45 – Neil: We have a large data collection.

6:07 – Chuck: You have your own ideas linked to Java?

6:15 – Neil: Yep.

6:20 – Chuck: Do people know that they are test subjects?

6:31 – Neil: Oh yeah.

6:39 – Chuck comments.

6:45 – Chuck: What do programmers see?

6:55 – Neil: It is interesting to see the code that they are writing. You are not sure what they are trying to do. Programming is a very frustrating experience for most people. I want to reach back in time and tell them that the problem is there. You watch people do it and they kind of in the right area, and then they go somewhere else. It’s frustrating for beginners.

8:06 – Chuck: How long have you been doing the research?

8:05 – Neil: Five Years.

8:22 – Chuck: How would I get into something like that?

8:32 – Neil answers the question.

9:35 – Chuck: What are you most proud of?

9:42 – Neil answers the question.

11:34 – How do you communicate that to people in the “real world” in a professional setting?

11:45 – Neil answers the question.

Neil: Be careful of your own expectations.

12:32 – Chuck: What are you doing now?

12:35 – Neil answers the question.

12:58 – Neil: Research is focused on the “new.” Making something “new.” We are doing essential work, but work that doesn’t get a lot of recognition.

13:37 – Chuck: That’s interesting. What else should we dive into? I would love to have you back.

13:57 – Chuck: Any advice for someone who wants to get into this area?

14:00 – Neil: Study and get a Ph.D. to help you with research.

14:40 – Chuck: There are a lot of universities who do this type of research?

14:52 – Neil answers the question.

15:35 – Picks!

15:41 – Advertisement

Links:

• Ruby
• Elixir
• Dr. Neil Brown – Podcast
• Dr. Neil Brown – Article
• Dr. Neil Brown – Twitter
• Tips for Teaching Programming with Dr. Neil Brown
• BlueJ

Sponsors:

• Code Badges
• Get a Coder Job
• Cache Fly

Picks:

Charles

• Audible
• If you are exhausted / depressed / down...go and take some time for yourself!
• Having a side project
• Book: Crucial Conversations

Neil

• Michael Lewis – Flash Boys