The programming talent myth
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The programming talent myth
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Re: The programming talent myth
#2The problem with the argument that "Programming skill can't be bimodal because that would be elitist and make me feel bad about myself being an elitist" is that there's a lot of evidence that programming skill is bimodal. Look at fizzbuzz as an obvious, if not entirely complete, example.
Would it make us all feel better if programming skill weren't bimodal? Sure. But a roomful of people clapping at that proposition doesn't make it true.
Re: The programming talent myth
#3That programming is a talent is not a myth, and while my life is currently devoted to developing a platform to encourage more people to learn the basics of computer science, I will certainly never say "anyone can learn how to code" any more than I'd say "anyone can become a concert pianist" or "anyone can become a master painter."
Good programming is an art, and requires talent on the part of the programmer. There's nothing wrong in saying that. The issue is that there are thousands and thousands of potentially great programmers who simply never try programming, just as there are thousands and thousands of never-will-be concert pianists. But many children take piano lessons just in case. Why can't they also take coding lessons? Just to see?
Re: The programming talent myth
#4> If the only options are to be amazing or terrible, it leads people to believe they must be passionate about their career, that they must think about programming every waking moment of their life. If they take their eye off the ball even for a minute, they will slide right from amazing to terrible again. That leads people to be working crazy hours at work, to be constantly studying programming topics on their own time, and so on.
In my experience people really are either amazing or terrible and those that are amazing are super passionate about programming, think about it and study it all the time...
I don't really understand the argument as to why this isn't desirable. Just like any difficult task, performing well is going to take a lot of practice and dedication to keep your skills fresh.
Re: The programming talent myth
#5Well, I just disagree. I've been doing this professionally for over 10 years and some people are bad to okay at it, and others are good to excellent. If there isn't some deep-seated reason why people fall into one group or the other, if it's just practice or whatever, fine. I don't know what the explanation is. And I don't assume it's impossible to move from one group to the other, far from it. But I would say the bi-modal thing seems roughly correct.
Re: The programming talent myth
#6> If the only options are to be amazing or terrible, it leads people to believe they must be passionate about their career, that they must think about programming every waking moment of their life. If they take their eye off the ball even for a minute, they will slide right from amazing to terrible again. That leads people to be working crazy hours at work, to be constantly studying programming topics on their own ti…
99% of the software that actually matters - medical devices, air traffic control, credit card processing, phone switches, you name it - is written by people who work 9-5 and don't think about their jobs outside work. If all the websites programmed by "rock stars" shutdown overnight, the next week everyone would have forgotten they ever existed.
Re: The programming talent myth
#7The problem with the argument that "Programming skill can't be bimodal because that would be elitist and make me feel bad about myself being an elitist" is that there's a lot of evidence that programming skill is bimodal. Look at fizzbuzz as an obvious, if not entirely complete, example. Would it make us all feel better if programming skill weren't bimodal? Sure. But a roomful of people clapping at that proposition d…
I think you can break it down further into four groups. People who, when presented with FizzBuzz on their first day of learning programming would:
(1) Not even try, because it's "too confusing." (c. 90% of the population).
(2) Be able to finish only with significant assistance from others.
(3) Be able to finish on their own through trial and error.
(4) Finish quickly, and wonder why they were asked to solve such a boring problem.
Note that programming ability is a function of interest in the subject as well as intelligence. I'd say that most people who go into programming are somewhere between groups 2 and 3, while most who end up being successful at it in the long term are somewhere between groups 3 and 4.
Re: The programming talent myth
#8That programming is a talent is not a myth, and while my life is currently devoted to developing a platform to encourage more people to learn the basics of computer science, I will certainly never say "anyone can learn how to code" any more than I'd say "anyone can become a concert pianist" or "anyone can become a master painter." Good programming is an art, and requires talent on the part of the programmer. There's…
to be a great concert pianist it is 5% talent 95% hard hard work...
If you dont train your fingers every day and if you dont play for at least 1 hour everyday since your 10 or younger you wont become a great concert pianist...
you can say the same for coding. it is 5% talent but the rest is coding coding coding coding...
If you have talent the start will be easier but at some point talent wont help anymore just studying and trying.
Re: The programming talent myth
#9It's not bimodal, because there there are 10 different types of people.
Re: The programming talent myth
#10> If the only options are to be amazing or terrible, it leads people to believe they must be passionate about their career, that they must think about programming every waking moment of their life. If they take their eye off the ball even for a minute, they will slide right from amazing to terrible again. That leads people to be working crazy hours at work, to be constantly studying programming topics on their own ti…
99% of the software that actually matters - medical devices, air traffic control, credit card processing, phone switches, you name it - is written by people who work 9-5 and don't think about their jobs outside work. If all the websites programmed by "rock stars" shutdown overnight, the next week everyone would have forgotten they ever existed.
But the software that was used to write that 99% of software that actually matters was probably written by "rock stars" in their spare time.