
Ask HN: Computer, programming book and no internet. Is it still doable? - gtirloni
Back in the &quot;good old days&quot;, that&#x27;s how I learned everything. Do you still consider that doable nowadays? With npm, pip, cargo and other package managers. Can air-gapped programming be done in 2019? How?
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ifseplz
Yes, it can be done.

Microsoft had great documentation in 1998. It is called MSDN VS 6.0. You can
find it at WinWorldPC. You had everything there (in the documentation)!
DirectX, WIN32API, what ever you wish... Hit F1 on random keyword and it would
still pull out the documentation for it with code examples too. No need to
connect to the internet.

Comparing that to nowadays Visual Studio documentation... it's... bad. Offline
documentation has links to online resources which is missing the point. You
have some information there but it is not complete, it is full of holes.

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non-entity
I swear modern MSDN is nearly impossible to navigate without a search engine.

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synack
Offline C programming on OpenBSD is still pretty comfortable due to the
excellent manpages. It helps that you can get source for the userspace and
kernel in a single CVS checkout.

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bjourne
Why wouldn't it be possible? That's how I learned to program back in the day
and I maintain that it is still the best way to do it. It teaches you self-
reliance, how to solve problems yourself and how to think hard (since you
can't google solutions on the net).

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probinso
Although there are many solutions I like the story to choose a language that
existed before package management was part of the process. C, Ada, lisp is a
great language, the Man pages are well written, use apropos to explore
functions.

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non-entity
Depends on what type of work you're doing. I dont think modern app development
would be easy given the amount of dependencies that need to be downloaded. But
if you're working on something without that, and have a _really_ good
reference manual, than sure maybe. Of course no guarantees things get done is
the same amount of time.

I did some kernel work a while back on a machine with no internet access.
While I did use the internet on a laptop, it was mainly to read docs get help,
so assuming I had all the docs offline, had the source already, and was smart
enough with all the background knowledge (I seriously doubt lol), I suppose I
could have done it offline.

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kleer001
Sure, but it'll take a lot longer without easy access to the burble and
chatter of programming forums, the archive of other learners hitting walls and
creating illumination.

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BinaryBuddha
I'd say not only doable, but would likely also encourage better habits
initially. This question reminds me of a school I read about that taught
programming using only pencil and paper.

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nickmose
Yes, if you learn fundamentals of programming, find some good books, setup
programming environment, offline from internet is good for you.

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LarryMade2
Yep, with a suitable Linux Distribution installer disk that includes the
basics.

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derrick_jensen
Are you accepting internship applications?

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derrick_jensen
Lol wrong thread my bad

