Because they're interested in it. There aren't any other reasons to learn it. At all.
Well, money is a pretty compelling reason, if not a good one.
Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
41–50 of 122 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
#42Because it improves your problem solving capabilities. Along with programming you learn the idea of debugging, and so many non-tech problems in life are made easier when you "debug" your life. It teaches kids to look at problems as something to be solved and not a reason to get discouraged and quit an activity.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
#43Because it's a form of literacy. If they don't want instinctively to learn is because educational institutions aren't making it interesting or engaging. It's important because it allows us to instruct computers to do things on our behalf. The only infinitely versatile tool in human history. Why should they only use their computer for browsing & word processing?
Yes! This is the "correct" answer.
What is the most compelling reason why young people should know about the world wars? Because their mental model of the world would be irremediably broken if they don't.
We are doing a disservice to our discipline by insisting that CS == professionally developing software.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
#44Compelling depends highly on which teenager you’re talking to.
Some reasons that teenagers I know have chosen to program are:
- To make video games
- To make web sites
- Because programmers make money
Some reasons that programming is a decent career choice:
- It’s extremely transferable. The number and types of companies that need programmers is increasing every day. You can find good jobs almost anywhere, plus working remotely is now an option.
- Nearly all fields of science, math & engineering now involve programming, even including many soft sciences. Research of all kinds has moved into computing environments for statistics. (As a small example, I help my brother who’s an anthropologist write software to do things like measure & categorize rabbit bones.)
- There are many interesting problems to solve, and pretty much all businesses are interesting in automating expensive processes.
Compelling reasons for me:
- Making digital art. Using procedural techniques to make pictures is one of my favorite things ever.
- Working out algorithms and solving problems and optimizing code is like doing puzzles, it’s a ton of fun.
- I’ve helped make movies and video games, as well as web apps and other production software that millions of people have seen & used. Programming can be a good way to get involved in projects that feel important or culturally relevant.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
#45"You don't really understand something until you can explain it to a computer!" / "If you can "explain" something to a computer then you've understood it, you don't need anyone else's confirmation of your understanding."
This were the breakthrough sparks of enlightenment for me, even if at first I only groked them viscerally... only decades later I found the words for this.
Programming is a tool for thought, a tool for thinking in a very peculiar, rare and valuable way. It doesn't matter if you'll rarely/ever use it to actually write usable software. In other kinds of thoughts, we can always glance over stuff and be misleading or imprecise without even realizing it. When you put something into code and something really dumb, eg. a computer, executes them, you have a rare chance to actually se how incredibly bad your thinking and your instructions and your communication in general are!
(And that it's good at making you feel stupid... this alone is good reason to make everyone learn it, most people think themselves way too smart and don't understand how complex everything is around them! Math used to feel this niche, but programming makes it more visceral - when you've learned a programming language well enough, have access to a powerful computer, have a known to be solvable problem in your face - but just not succeeding to get at a working solutions and realizing it's only of how bad the shitty chunk of jelly in your head is at thinking, that's enlightening. Making you lose some of that self-confidence engendered by your otherwise rich education and artistic taste and developed culture and whatever not... realizing that no, neither that nor anything else will make you less dumb.)
Learning about computation helps up think better and helps us better model other people in our heads.
This is why I think computer science + practical programming should be mandatory for majoring in literature, linguistics, psychology or philosophy!
Re: Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
#46If they mainly use computers for web browsing, why not show them how can programing make it more convenient? Teach them how to use, then modify and later create userscripts to simplify annoying stuff. Same with Discord bots. Show them how to scrape all videos of their favourite tiktoker. Help them create webpages to troll their friends. Some might find interesting Game of Life. If they are into art, teach them Processing. If they are into video games, they might be interesting in creating mods.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
#47Perhaps if people were more literate in programming, they could demand more from software vendors. Think spotting BS/over-promising by vendors.
I think too many managers/execs sign off on software that's of such low quality because everything is magic to them and they don't know to dream bigger.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
#481) Software is eating the world, so a basic understanding of computers/programming/... is imperative to understanding the world they will inhabit. I think this is similar to the logic behind everyone taking English, history, etc. classes.
2) It promotes logical thinking and problem solving skills. This is much the same reasoning why everyone must take math/science classes. So, if we took some of the less "relatable" classes (e.g. geometry) in the mandated general curriculum, and replaced them with basic programming/data-science classes, that might be an improvement. Especially since it is probably easier to many students interested in creating a Minecraft mod that pulls in statistics related to the real world, than it is to get many students excited about acute vs obtuse angles.
P.S. I say this as someone who LOVED math classes in general and geometry specifically. I really did get excited about writing Q.E.D. at the end of a tough proof. But, I know I am seriously in the minority there.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
#49My compelling reason is to discover if they're naturally "bent" toward programming. Neither you nor the child will know until they give it a try for long enough to make something meaningful. Then, if they find it exciting/interesting/motivating...it's time for more.
When I was 13, I found the process of web development incredibly fascinating AND had a teacher (who happened to be 14) who helped me get over the initial cognitive speed bumps. Those ~50 hours changed the course of my life.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most compelling reason young people should learn to program?
#50If "magic" means changing reality with your mind, then programming is the closest thing to magic (that we know of).