When I still used Eclipse, I had a vi-compatibility mode that came from some or other add-on. I can't remember whether it was vimplugin, or something else.

Ask yourself whether the Earth is really 6,000km deep.

I highly recommend getting him a copy of Chris Pine's "Learn to Program" and having him start out with Ruby.

Learning with a modern object-oriented language has the enormous benefit of allowing one to focus on flow and structure, without the clutter of underlying mechanics like pointers and memory allocation. Those things are easy to learn in isolation. Learning both how to think in software _and_ how your approach is supported at a low level, at the same time, is a burden that hasn't been necessary for over a decade.

Old school grumpies will tell you that it's important to learn both at the same time, because that's how they did it. Pants to that.

Thumbs up. They're obnoxious, arrogant spammers.

I'm wondering what Microsoft's intended global message is, on their value proposition. I thought a major element of their marketing edge was long-term support for their products. When you raise stability and performance concerns about Microsoft products in a technology selection discussion, the two things that come up are the assurance of long-term support, and ubiquity. And now it seems that Microsoft is left with only ubiquity, entrenching their position as the McDonalds of software.