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Everybody does not need to learn to code.

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Re: Everybody does not need to learn to code.

#11

Post by bobbbinsIII »

mathattack wrote: post #9

Of course not. And everyone doesn't need to learn how to drive. Or speak Spanish. Or cook for themselves. Or balance credits and debits. But people who can do any of the above proficiently have many doors and options open to them that others don't. And those who can do it at least a little bit can at least have some awareness for when they hire someone to do it for them.

most people can learn to drive, learn another language and learn to cook. a much smaller number of people can learn to code competently.

Re: Everybody does not need to learn to code.

#12

Post by angersock »

bobbbinsIII wrote: post #11
mathattack wrote: post #9

Of course not. And everyone doesn't need to learn how to drive. Or speak Spanish. Or cook for themselves. Or balance credits and debits. But people who can do any of the above proficiently have many doors and options open to them that others don't. And those who can do it at least a little bit can at least have some awareness for when they hire someone to do it for them.

most people can learn to drive, learn another language and learn to cook. a much smaller number of people can learn to code competently.

We should at least give them a shot and a nudge in the right direction, hey?

Re: Everybody does not need to learn to code.

#13

Post by samatman »

Disagree. Everyone needs to learn to code.

I was taught long division as a child. Didn't like it; who does? Nor do I use it.

But...

When I was 15, I finally got a chance to study programming. One of the first things our professor showed us, was how to do string-based long division, with a computer.

The enlightenment was profound.

Why was I doing this, when everyone else was learning to symbolically find quadratic roots on paper? Why do we teach algorithms for years, and never, ever teach Algorithms if you don't specifically ask? Why is Al-Khawarizmi's legacy in education Al-gebra, and not Al-gorithms, which are actually named after him?

Re: Everybody does not need to learn to code.

#14

Post by cruise02 »

da02 wrote: post #6
npalli wrote: post #2

Well atleast the guy training others in the opening picture needs to :-). He is mixing cases in javascript (defined TXT and doing txt.toLowerCase()). Perhaps an HTML dude who is doing javascript.

There's also the use of document.writeln. I'm no JS expert, but... I thought that was a big NO-NO.

document.writeln is generally frowned upon in production code since there are better ways to manipulate a page using the DOM. I still see it used occasionally for debugging (although even that usage is disappearing, as most browsers have some form of debug console available) and in tutorials and books for beginners.

Here's a Stack Overflow post that outlines some of its pros and cons. http://stackoverflow.com/q/802854/1288

Re: Everybody does not need to learn to code.

#15

Post by the_watcher »

freyr wrote: post #10

Every student should have, at least, exposure to coding and the opportunity to learn it. This has not been the case in my lifetime. In middle school, a special instructor was brought in to teach programming to the GATE kids. She decided she could only handle one student. So out of the entire class, only one kid was exposed to programming in school When it was time to enter high school, there were two public schools i…

Exposure and opportunity are the keys. Not everyone should learn to code, but everyone should be exposed to programming and given the chance to pursue it. Replace the year I spent learning cursive with a programming intro.

Re: Everybody does not need to learn to code.

#16

Post by zeckalpha »

The ability to program is the literacy of the millennium. One thousand years ago "Everybody [did] not need to learn to read", yet today, many countries have a near 100% literacy rate.

However, I don't think we need to force today's programming languages upon people. Let's invent the printing press of programming languages, making the cost of learning to program much easier. (IFTTT is working on this.)

Re: Everybody does not need to learn to code.

#18

Post by samatman »

samatman wrote: post #13

Disagree. Everyone needs to learn to code. I was taught long division as a child. Didn't like it; who does? Nor do I use it. But... When I was 15, I finally got a chance to study programming. One of the first things our professor showed us, was how to do string-based long division, with a computer. The enlightenment was profound. Why was I doing this, when everyone else was learning to symbolically find quadratic roo…

Let me elaborate. Anyone who has participated in the math education of a child, or remembers being one, has heard the compliant "But I'm just going to use a calculator! Why do I have to learn this!"

Currently, the answer is "if you want to get into college / learn more advanced things, you have to learn to do this, all by hand."

The answer should be "Well, if you want to get into college, you're going to have to learn how to program that calculator yourself. So you need to understand how to do what it does, or you can't tell it what to do".

The difference is huge.

Re: Everybody does not need to learn to code.

#19

Post by rjtavares »

bobbbinsIII wrote: post #11
mathattack wrote: post #9

Of course not. And everyone doesn't need to learn how to drive. Or speak Spanish. Or cook for themselves. Or balance credits and debits. But people who can do any of the above proficiently have many doors and options open to them that others don't. And those who can do it at least a little bit can at least have some awareness for when they hire someone to do it for them.

most people can learn to drive, learn another language and learn to cook. a much smaller number of people can learn to code competently.

A much smaller number of people can learn to drive like a professional driver, speak another language fluently, or be a restaurant chef. Coding isn't isn't really different from those other activities: you should learn the basics, because it will help your life, and leave the complex stuff to professionals.

Re: Everybody does not need to learn to code.

#20

Post by gus_massa »

mathattack wrote: post #9

Of course not. And everyone doesn't need to learn how to drive. Or speak Spanish. Or cook for themselves. Or balance credits and debits. But people who can do any of the above proficiently have many doors and options open to them that others don't. And those who can do it at least a little bit can at least have some awareness for when they hire someone to do it for them.

You just forget reading and writing. A few centuries ago most of the people couldn't read and write, and it was not clear that it was a good idea to extend that knowledge to everyone.

"But people who can do any of the above proficiently have many doors and options open to them that others don't. And those who can do it at least a little bit can at least have some awareness for when they hire someone to do it for them."

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