第一次和老外交流关于XBRL的ruby on rails开源项目

最近一周都通过邮件和一个和我相距12小时时差的外国人交流一个关于XBRL的开源项目,虽然英语水平到位,但确实技术差太远了，他在LOTUS工作了10多年,现在有3个孩子了还继续专研技术,准备用ruby on rails 来搞,Ruby 是日本人早在1993年就发明的一种动态脚本语言,不过因为缺少英文文档,所以一直没流行开,知道最近一个丹麦小伙用Ruby开发出一个框架rails使期迅速走红,我到是很想参与这个项目，不过不知道能力够吗,时间够吗.

以下是我们的对话,记录下来,就象日记一样，以后还有很多回忆.

fan178:

i visit the XBRL-open site , but nothing can download. what about this project?

Brian:

It is a repository for future projects. My hope is to build support for open source projects and XBRL.
Are you working in this area? Are you able to share a description of your interests and your work? What programming languages are you using? Do you have an application in mind?
I am presently working on a prototype, which I plan to share under an open source license from this project.  I to have this running in Windows, Linux, and Java.

fan178:

Thanks for your replay message.

first,i wanna tell you my english ability is not excellent.

I am working in the XML and related area,i am very like XML. the XBRL is the recently application , i know it not very much.

I have worked two years,my primary language is C#,i am afraid that i maybe a junior developer.i haven't joined opensource project yet.my experience is not enough.

i wanna help you ,but i am afraid our communicate too hard.i just search information about XBRL.

i hope you do it better.

 

Brian:

Your english is fine - very easy to understand, clear and concise. Just type along and I understand!
I'm glad to hear of your interest in XML, XBRL and open source. I think you should participate! What kinds of things would you like to do? Read code? Test code? Write code? Build sample applications? There are many opportunities.
There is a project I am just beginning work on. I am seeing if I can get a Ruby interface to the Apache XML server. There is an XML expert who knows all about this and uses SWIG to automatically generated the interfaces - but there is more that needs to be done to make this work. Do you have any interest? (My hope is to develop applications for XBRL using Ruby and access to the Apache Xerces XML parser would be a great tool to have.)
I will send you a follow-up email talling you how to get access to the sources. I was able to do it even though my C/C++ coding is very, very rusty. (Do you know what that means?)

fan178:

You can call me James,its my english name.

It's a pleasure to make friend with you. 

I am in Shanghai from China,maybe you know NBA tall guy,Yao Ming,its his homeland.

I am very happy to participate this group,i am not sure what i can do,but i am very like to help you.you can grant me some thing to do,i will do my best to do it better.
I know Ruby is a dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.But i haven't used it yet.if has a chance,i wanna study it. Maybe it is better than OO language,such as Java and C#. But in china, the reference books about ruby are few,this language is not popular in china.
Your last sentence is maybe means that i think said your C/C++ hasn't used for long time,

like a kitchen knife hasn't used,can not cut meat,right?

Brian:

Right ... rusty. Or a boat anchor left out for a long time. You have the right idea!
Yes, Yao Ming is tall. I have a friend who's relative wrote a book about him - "
Operation Yao Ming: The Chinese Sports Empire, American Big Business, and the Making of an NBA Superstar "
Some day a book will be written about the great software programmers in China!
You describe Ruby very well. There are some good books available but there are also excellent online samples. I will send you some guides. If you can program in C# or Java then Ruby would be like a "walk in the park." (Do you know what that means? An easy thing to do!)

fan178:

You are very kindness and humorous.

i am not think about that the onlines simples are so rich,thank you.i must study hard.

my OS is windows XP,microsoft,you knows,the whole development environment is products by microsoft,but its not important.sometimes,i write javascript in the Notepad,the IDE is a tool,the language is a core.

I am sorry that i haven't reply your email as soon as possbile.But every mail from you i will read from begin to end .

my english words are limited,so many mind i don't know how i express.

i have forgetton to tell you my hobby is play chess,not chinese chess,its international chess. do you like play it?

have a break,see you tomorrow.

Brian:

I enjoyed playing chess when I was young. I played for my high school team (during my ages of about 14 - 17.) I was lucky, I was friends with the best chess player in the high school and he gained master status through all his tournaments. I learned from him. He played #1 on the team. Sometimes I would play #2 or #3. I haven't played much since! I have three children and one of them has played some chess. I worked at Lotus Development for some years and one of my friends was a great developer from China - he was brilliant in math and I seem to recall he was good in chess. I've lost contact with him since he left to work at Sun computer - but I'll have to find him again and recall where he lived in China.

fan178:

I am sure that you are so much experience, you can guide me the right way.

thank you for giving so many documentation, i wil read them carefulness.

our times is different 12 hours? right? I am in GMT+8 ,Beijing time, you are in GMT-5 easten times in US.now here time is about 9 a.m. i just start my work with new day,but you are 9 p.m.,you can sleep early,don't be work hard, you are not worry about me, i should take careful your children more and your family.

My road is a long way, I just twenties young man, i wanna try hard, but i think i cann't.

continue...