IRC - The best developer resource on the web!
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Chris
Feb 19, 2008, 9:57:04 PM2/19/08
to PPPPkh
I just wanted to send a message about what I find to be the most
useful developer resource on the net - IRC. Some of you will already
be familiar with IRC as it's been around for a very long time and
seems to be having a real renaissance of late maybe due to
dissatisfaction with the slow response times and 'fluff' contained
within standard chat forums and mailing lists.
IRC stands for 'Internet Relay Chat' and is basically live chat rooms
(channels) with instant messaging. You don't need to join channels
(usually), you just log in and start asking questions or joining in
the discussion. You will find channels on just about any technology
that you can think of.
There are many IRC clients including a plethora of AJAX based web
clients, but for me the best and most convenient is ChatZilla which is
available as a Firefox Add-on - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/16
You can read this faq to get started with the basics -
http://chatzilla.hacksrus.com/faq/
The best thing about IRC is the level of developer you often find in
attendance and their passion for the technologies, in channels that I
often frequent such as #jquery and #pgsql you can often talk directly
to the technology dev's which often gives answers and insight that you
simply cannot find else where.
Once you have an IRC client you need to connect to a server which is
done like this:
"/attach freenode" (remove speech marks) this will join you to the
freenode server ( The most popular server with developer
communities ). Now you are connected to a server you need to join a
channel, to do this you use the command "/join #javascript" all
channel names begin with a hash, this command will send you to the
JavaScript IRC channel on freenode. You rarely need to search for
channels as the general rule is to use the simplest name possible
meaning you can usually guess, and even if your guess is wrong you
will usually be redirected to the correct place. For example if I type
"/join c#" I am redirected to "##csharpe" the freenode c# channel
which currently has 156 users online - that's a big pool of knowledge
at you finger tips!
Tips for newbies on IRC etiquette :
1) Never post any code snippets that are more than a couple of lines.
If you need to share longer code use www.pastebin.com or whatever
paste engine is recommended in the channel header.
2) Don't ask permission to ask a question, just ask it.
3) Do not ask a question again within a short time frame (maybe 1
hour) if no one answered you the first time.
4) When you reply to someone use the member name followed by a colon
e.g "Chris: my response to Chris", this will cause their minimized
chat client window to flash orange so they know their is a comment
which has been directed at them.
Enjoy!
P.S If some of you start getting into IRC we could possibly create our
own IRC channel for developers in Cambodia or PPPPkh even.
useful developer resource on the net - IRC. Some of you will already
be familiar with IRC as it's been around for a very long time and
seems to be having a real renaissance of late maybe due to
dissatisfaction with the slow response times and 'fluff' contained
within standard chat forums and mailing lists.
IRC stands for 'Internet Relay Chat' and is basically live chat rooms
(channels) with instant messaging. You don't need to join channels
(usually), you just log in and start asking questions or joining in
the discussion. You will find channels on just about any technology
that you can think of.
There are many IRC clients including a plethora of AJAX based web
clients, but for me the best and most convenient is ChatZilla which is
available as a Firefox Add-on - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/16
You can read this faq to get started with the basics -
http://chatzilla.hacksrus.com/faq/
The best thing about IRC is the level of developer you often find in
attendance and their passion for the technologies, in channels that I
often frequent such as #jquery and #pgsql you can often talk directly
to the technology dev's which often gives answers and insight that you
simply cannot find else where.
Once you have an IRC client you need to connect to a server which is
done like this:
"/attach freenode" (remove speech marks) this will join you to the
freenode server ( The most popular server with developer
communities ). Now you are connected to a server you need to join a
channel, to do this you use the command "/join #javascript" all
channel names begin with a hash, this command will send you to the
JavaScript IRC channel on freenode. You rarely need to search for
channels as the general rule is to use the simplest name possible
meaning you can usually guess, and even if your guess is wrong you
will usually be redirected to the correct place. For example if I type
"/join c#" I am redirected to "##csharpe" the freenode c# channel
which currently has 156 users online - that's a big pool of knowledge
at you finger tips!
Tips for newbies on IRC etiquette :
1) Never post any code snippets that are more than a couple of lines.
If you need to share longer code use www.pastebin.com or whatever
paste engine is recommended in the channel header.
2) Don't ask permission to ask a question, just ask it.
3) Do not ask a question again within a short time frame (maybe 1
hour) if no one answered you the first time.
4) When you reply to someone use the member name followed by a colon
e.g "Chris: my response to Chris", this will cause their minimized
chat client window to flash orange so they know their is a comment
which has been directed at them.
Enjoy!
P.S If some of you start getting into IRC we could possibly create our
own IRC channel for developers in Cambodia or PPPPkh even.
Miika Makinen
Feb 20, 2008, 1:50:22 AM2/20/08
to ppp...@googlegroups.com
Chris Brown
Feb 20, 2008, 2:44:00 AM2/20/08
to ppp...@googlegroups.com
I still haven't found a channel for GoF design patterns though, which is quite surprising.--
Christopher Brown
Aruna Technology
Research and Development Director
H/P: (855) 012 315 302
Tel: (855) 023 215 231
Fax: (855) 023 215 234
Christopher Brown
Aruna Technology
Research and Development Director
H/P: (855) 012 315 302
Tel: (855) 023 215 231
Fax: (855) 023 215 234
Miika Makinen
Feb 21, 2008, 10:02:23 PM2/21/08
to ppp...@googlegroups.com
Yeh, did not find a channel for that or any kind of patterns/practices channel. It's possible to make one though?
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