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President Obama calls on every American to learn code

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Re: President Obama calls on every American to learn code

#51

Post by brandonbloom »

thearn4 wrote: post #9

Wow. Looks like Youtube comments haven't improved much after all. Seriously, it seems like half of the comments seen on Youtube (or at the bottom of any article on a news site) read as if they could have come right from a post on StormFront.

Disclaimer: I'm a major contributor to Code.org's own tutorials.

Most of the comments here on HN are similarly shameful. How can free, high quality educational materials, and lobbying to improve access to computer science education possibly be a bad thing? I've talked to a ton of educators and technologists and they are nothing but excited, then I come here, and it's cynics and conspiracy theories.

Re: President Obama calls on every American to learn code

#52

Post by mushishi »

williamcotton wrote: post #38
avenger123 wrote: post #18

This "learn to code" meme is getting tiresome. Why not focus on the more critical skills in life that are more applicable to most people. Here's a big one: 1. Learn to communicate. Improve your writing and speaking skills.

1. Learn to listen. 2. Learn to speak.

0. Learn to think.

Re: President Obama calls on every American to learn code

#53

Post by gfodor »

gum_ina_package wrote: post #26
gfodor wrote: post #24

Obama says a few nice things about Computer Science and encourages people to learn more about the world, and HN still manages to find every possible negative angle to trash it. Impressive!

Obama said a fundamentally ignorant statement that seems even more ignorant considering all the technical problems with Obamacare. Hacker News is just pointing this out.

Encouraging kids to try to become astronauts is not an ignorant statement despite the fact that becoming an astronaut is really hard. Telling kids to try to design iPhone apps or make video games is much less so. It's a shame that HN can't recognize what is fundamentally a good thing: a statement from the president encouraging curiosity and proficiency in computer science and programming. It's incredible to me that this community of so-called "hackers" can be so quick to shit on it. Perhaps it's an insecurity thing, and they are afraid if others learn their skills they may no longer be in the position of power they are in now?

Re: President Obama calls on every American to learn code

#54

Post by swimmer »

Crito wrote: post #31
avenger123 wrote: post #18

This "learn to code" meme is getting tiresome. Why not focus on the more critical skills in life that are more applicable to most people. Here's a big one: 1. Learn to communicate. Improve your writing and speaking skills.

Well presumably because we already are telling people to learn how to write and communicate. Public schools spend more time on those topics than probably any other. Furthermore, advocating mastery of one skill is different from advocating basic literacy in another skill. This said, I agree that "learn to code" is tiresome. Why aren't cries of "learn basic electrical engineering" as popular? Or, if we want clear socie…

Not too many folks are paid to swim. Clearly some folks think that programming has career potential in the future for young folks...

Re: President Obama calls on every American to learn code

#55

Post by stormcrowsx »

sciguy77 wrote: post #12

I have to say, coding is definitely not for everyone. A rather specific kind of person (such as myself) is drawn to program computers. While I enjoy it most people I know would not. Certainly having the option to take Intro and AP CS courses (both of these are available at most public high schools) is great, but "calling on all Americans," to code seems a little excessive.

I've taught my daughter the basics of programming with Python to do things like sort her photo library. I think basic programming is a skill any American who uses a computer will find useful and the majority of Americans use a computer from day to day. Knowing programming is a force multiplier in computers. I don't know how many times I've seen someone spend 2 weeks hand editing some stupid spreadsheet that I could have written a script to do in 45 minutes.

Re: President Obama calls on every American to learn code

#56

Post by jliechti1 »

Judging from the responses so far, it seems the thread is going to evolve into a similar fashion to these previous threads discussing the same topic (not to say it isn't worth discussing again - but it has come up quite often recently).

Most on HN seem to support the idea that not everyone should become a computer programmer (as a profession), but being exposed to the ideas in used in CS are very helpful for learning how to think about certain types of problems.

Personally, from a practical standpoint, I think a lot of people could benefit by learning basic scripting to automate computing tasks - I've seen way too many people doing extremely tedious tasks by hand, when a simple script could have saved them hours.

---Similar discussions---

Everybody does not need to learn to code: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6237007 (74 comments)

Why everyone should not learn to code: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5302157 (62 comments)

Please learn to code: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3975992 (147 comments)

Please don't learn to code: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3975744 (268 comments)

Re: President Obama calls on every American to learn code

#57

Post by tiziano88 »

gum_ina_package wrote: post #26
gfodor wrote: post #24

Obama says a few nice things about Computer Science and encourages people to learn more about the world, and HN still manages to find every possible negative angle to trash it. Impressive!

Obama said a fundamentally ignorant statement that seems even more ignorant considering all the technical problems with Obamacare. Hacker News is just pointing this out.

Why is it ignorant? Care to explain?

Re: President Obama calls on every American to learn code

#58

Post by avenger123 »

mkingston wrote: post #44
avenger123 wrote: post #18

This "learn to code" meme is getting tiresome. Why not focus on the more critical skills in life that are more applicable to most people. Here's a big one: 1. Learn to communicate. Improve your writing and speaking skills.

From my experience with administration work in a bank: just a little bit of code will go a very long way. Programming very much seems to obey the 90/10 rule. For 10% of the effort, you get 90% of the reward. (Maybe work the numbers a bit and call it 80/20). Just consider how much Excel is used in just about any business. A tiny bit of VBA can really work wonders. Sure, a guy emptying bins isn't going to be helped by…

For better or worse, most people make judgments based on how well one presents themselves and communication is a big part of this.

Even in the software field, most companies are looking for people that can communicate effectively as well as code. I know the industry has a higher tolerance for people who are talented but lack social and communication skills but there are only so many companies out there that can accommodate these individuals.

Re: President Obama calls on every American to learn code

#59

Post by JonFish85 »

While I agree that it's a great mental exercise to learn how to code (and to learn the mindset that goes along with it), isn't it much more important for every American to learn how to budget? To learn how to save money? To me, those are things that are far more important to the country as a whole than understanding even basic scripting.

As a quick example, the meaning of "afford" has changed in the last 2 generations or so. To my grandparents, "affording" a car meant being able to spend the money to buy the car outright. To many of my peers, "affording" a new car means being able to make the minimum payment on the car, or even just the lease payment.

Many of my peers (meaning my specific circle of friends) don't even budget, nevermind put aside money for the future. Hell, even friends in the finance industry don't contribute to their 401k because they'll "do it later". To me, this is a problem that is very serious for our country as a whole, moreso than people learning to understand some basic code.

Don't get me wrong, I think it would be great for everyone to be able to understand how computers work at a deeper level than "magic". It's just that I think no one really bothers to teach kids how to save money, to invest, to budget their lifestyle, etc. Just an opinion, though.

Re: President Obama calls on every American to learn code

#60

Post by pearjuice »

>Starring Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, will.i.am, Chris Bosh, Jack Dorsey, Tony Hsieh, Drew Houston, Gabe Newell, Ruchi Sanghvi, Elena Silenok, Vanessa Hurst, and Hadi Partovi. Directed by Lesley Chilcott, executive producers Hadi and Ali Partovi.

>Code.org owes special thanks to all the cast and the film crew, and also Microsoft, Google/YouTube, Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter for helping us spread the word

What the fuck is this shit? They really pumped billions in marketing!? Is America really that desperate to destroy the only real market it has left? You guys might applaud this but the only thing which this will lead to is unqualified people thinking they know how to program.

The job market will get saturated with mediocre programmers and those who really know their stuff will be too expensive to hire or get lost in the noise. We will see an increase of shit code in production. People think they can have a shot at the field which was dominated by us, the outcasts, for years.

This worries me, brothers, this worries me. If you think this is anything good, look at what happened with finances. It completely fell under the massive appeal of the mainstream crowd who thought they could become a manger and earn a quick buck. Programming is a serious art, skill and dedication you have to live up to.

It shouldn't be - and isn't - for everyone.

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