There are flash cards for anything from simple math to Gross Anatomy and Legal Procedure. Why not for programming languages and software platforms? One side of the card would have the name of the function, and a description of what the function does is on the other side. This bidirectional mapping models reading and writing code: when you are reading someone else’s code, you need to be able to see a function call and understand what it does. Otherwise you have to look it up. When you are writing code, you are thinking “hmmm, I need to reverse this list of lists and then get every third element of the sublists.” If you don’t know which functions will accomplish that task for you, you have to go look it up. Or even worse (much worse), you don’t know the API is available, so you end up “rolling your own.”
Platform fluency is like Thai Iced Tea: if you are fluent, you are knocking out features like a code ninja on speed … and having a great time doing it. If you’re not fluent, you are constantly flipping open books and asking stuff like “how can I make this div overlap this column by 10%?” It’s these reverse mappings that are the more difficult, which is why it’s easier to read someone else’s code than to write your own. Looking up a function call in google or a book index is straightforward. Looking up an an abstract idea of how to achieve specific functionality is not.
The only “python” flash cards I could find was this set for learning animals in Hindi.
So I’m going to have to print my own flash cards. blah. That means formatting all the documentation I want to study so that it fits on 3×5 card, buying a printer, and actually getting the thing to print. Everyone knows that printers never work. OK, well, they work like every other day.
Luckily the GTD/Hipster PDA weenies have taken the issue of printing index cards to task. The consensus of CoreNerd was on the Canon Pixma iP3000. This presents a couple of problems. First off, the 43 Folders Post is from 2005, ancient history in consumer electronics land. They don’t even make that printer anymore. Second, it’s a drippy, sticky, gooey inkjet printer.
I hate inkjet printers. I want them all to die.
The all-knowing amazon told me the Brother HL-2070N was a similar printer, and dirt cheap at $89.99. But I didn’t see index card printing listed in the specs. So I’m thinking the HP LaserJet 1320n Monochrome Network Printer is the way to go. It supposedly prints index cards, and it sounds like a pretty serious printer. Incidentally, the LaserJet 1320 is also available in “Government Edition”, with a different model number.
I don’t know how the government’s printing requirements differ from my own, but I don’t want to have anything to do with it.
Update! kmarks notes that the Terminal command pydoc -p 7777 && open localhost:7777 gives you some nifty Python API documentation (including locally installed libraries), and recommends the
Python Cookbook for reverse-mapping. Good stuff!
Zara, and 
So you’ve probably heard me 
YAY!!!!! I’m glad you’re moving to Bernal!! When do you move???? Zara can’t wait!