Why Johnny can't program (2002)
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Why Johnny can't program (2002)
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Re: Why Johnny can't program (2002)
#2I take the opposite view. Programming is fairly easy and many people do it without realizing it. EX: Adding waypoints in StarCraft pathing for new units.
Professional programming like professional dancing is simply taking that same idea several steps further.
Re: Why Johnny can't program (2002)
#3I take the opposite view. Programming is fairly easy and many people do it without realizing it. EX: Adding waypoints in StarCraft pathing for new units. Professional programming like professional dancing is simply taking that same idea several steps further.
> Programming is fairly easy and many people do it without realizing it.
Most of all in spreadsheets, which the author invented!
I like Jerry Weinberg's phrase for this: oblivious programming.
Re: Why Johnny can't program (2002)
#4I take the opposite view. Programming is fairly easy and many people do it without realizing it. EX: Adding waypoints in StarCraft pathing for new units. Professional programming like professional dancing is simply taking that same idea several steps further.
The opposite view of what? Because the author discusses your point directly and at length -
"[...] this is not to say that many people can't get immersed in systems that require such understanding. They do in many parts of their lives. For example, lawyers and tax accountants routinely work with such complexity in their contracts and planning. Doctors work with an untold number of variables. Someone planning a big party has to work out the food, matching paper goods, favors, invitation list, entertainment, etc. Yet, all of these people rarely program computers in addition. It's just that people who aren't professional or hobbyist programmers usually don't want to get so immersed in something that is infrequently done and not part of the rest of their lives. The question really isn't "Why Johnny can't program" but rather "Why Johnny won't or doesn't choose to program"."
Re: Why Johnny can't program (2002)
#5Amy Wohl's comment is true, but I've realized I can't pick out the right visual tools in any field on the computer unless I already know what I'm doing. This of course doesn't apply in a business setting where environments are set up for you.
Text based tools are easier to keep modular and advance the process. Without someone doing it, the visual environments seem to stagnate (anecdotally).
Re: Why Johnny can't program (2002)
#6I take the opposite view. Programming is fairly easy and many people do it without realizing it. EX: Adding waypoints in StarCraft pathing for new units. Professional programming like professional dancing is simply taking that same idea several steps further.
The opposite view of what? Because the author discusses your point directly and at length - "[...] this is not to say that many people can't get immersed in systems that require such understanding. They do in many parts of their lives. For example, lawyers and tax accountants routinely work with such complexity in their contracts and planning. Doctors work with an untold number of variables. Someone planning a big pa…
It is having an interest in learning how to program. Not everyone has it. That is why there isn't much diversity in people hired for programming jobs, lack of interest in programming by women and minorities. I'm sure women and minorities can program and learn how to do it, just that a lot lack the interest and do something else instead.
There are exceptions like people in India that get a free college education and take up programming to get a good paying job in the West somewhere.
Re: Why Johnny can't program (2002)
#7Some do programming..others are at the higher level of software management..
An example..in android programming I spend some time marking up my classes with annotations telling the compiler which way I mean some java method or statement to be treated by the compiler which improves the management of the software dev process by reducing the error count down significantly
Re: Why Johnny can't program (2002)
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
The opposite view of what? Because the author discusses your point directly and at length - "[...] this is not to say that many people can't get immersed in systems that require such understanding. They do in many parts of their lives. For example, lawyers and tax accountants routinely work with such complexity in their contracts and planning. Doctors work with an untold number of variables. Someone planning a big pa…
It is having an interest in learning how to program. Not everyone has it. That is why there isn't much diversity in people hired for programming jobs, lack of interest in programming by women and minorities. I'm sure women and minorities can program and learn how to do it, just that a lot lack the interest and do something else instead. There are exceptions like people in India that get a free college education and t…
Not sure I understand how that's related to the article either, to be honest.
Re: Why Johnny can't program (2002)
#9Excellent article. The one thing I disagree with is IDE's. I think that they actually present an overly complex interface that is daunting to the new user, not helpful. Ditching IDE's and switching to a text editor and CLI has made every aspect of programming easier for me to understand. As a new user, the price I paid to be able to click a button and run my program, was far greater than the price of learning how to run it from a CLI. I wish I had listened sooner to all the people telling me not to use IDE's.
Re: Why Johnny can't program (2002)
#10Excellent article. The one thing I disagree with is IDE's. I think that they actually present an overly complex interface that is daunting to the new user, not helpful. Ditching IDE's and switching to a text editor and CLI has made every aspect of programming easier for me to understand. As a new user, the price I paid to be able to click a button and run my program, was far greater than the price of learning how to…
It may cause future problems, but things like Visual Basic with the graphical interface are very easy for a child to understand (or at least me). As the artifacts that you are interacting with in the GUI are in the programming environment.