This was a good post, but the entire thing may not be worth as much as the first sentence. So much of learning is about how you approach the state of ignorance in yourself and others.
Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer
51–60 of 225 posts
Re: Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure you can do anything you want, but the better you are at something: a) the more enjoyable and rewarding it is for you AND b) the more efficiently you can generate something useful for others; with any activity, there is an opportunity cost That said, learning coding is self-limiting activity; those who enjoy it and have a knack for it will continue, those that don't will stop. My only concern, which is a general…
When I start learning programming I was "completely non-technical" too. Give your non-technical friend a few years and you will see what she can do if she is really interested in making games. I bet you were in the same situation at some point in your life. If you want to give her a constructive advice tell her that she can use JavaScript with Unity3D for e.g. I bet you will be amazed at how productive one can became…
Certainly, one's early experience skews one's perceptions - I was 10 or 11 when I was 'non-technical', my friend is 35 (and, knowing her pretty well, her skills are definitely not in the coding area).
Thanks for the tip, I'll pass it on to her.
Re: Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer
#53"Never listen to people who try to make beginners feel like losers"
Zing. A great litmus test that's simple and has results too.
Too many programming communities, including the most popular web frameworks that are the be all and end all to everything have elements of this.
It's not something to be proud of to feel better about yourself by putting others down, telling others what they do, or how they do it, or who they ultimately are isn't as capable.
Re: Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer
#54"How can you learn C programming if you don't read K&R!" What's a better way to learn C than reading K&R?
I tried K&R but could not get into it after reading the first 2 chapters a few times over.
I was close to giving up on C till I picked up "C Programming a Modern Approach" and Zed's "Learn C The Hard Way". They were phenomenal.
After finishing them I tried K&R again but was still not digging the style so I did a few of the exercises but not much else. I get that it's a classic but it was written before I was born so I didn't find it all that well written. That's just my opinion though.
Re: Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer
#55The Drama.
Re: Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer
#56Nail on head. This would be the part of my comment where I try to add something, but I'd be wasting my breath; Zed already said everything that needs to be said here.
Re: Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer
#57While the "Don't Become Anything" thing is valuable (after all it's a thousands of years old insight that can be found in Buddhism for example), the article looks pretty much like a straw man to me. The original post was arguing that "coding" isn't an essential life skill in the way for example reading is and that massive amounts of new coders might not be that good for the world. How is this refuted here in any way?…
I'm not refuting his statement that programming is or is not a life skill. My opinion on the matter is demonstrated in my work. I'm refuting his statement that other people should not become programmers, and that only a few chosen few should. Even though he doesn't say those very words, that's what he's saying.
The resentment comes from me talking to many programmers who say the same thing. Consider it a guess about Jeff, and a general message about other people who feel the same way.
Re: Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer
#58Here's the first submission to this argument that I can get behind. Well said.
Re: Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer
#59While the "Don't Become Anything" thing is valuable (after all it's a thousands of years old insight that can be found in Buddhism for example), the article looks pretty much like a straw man to me. The original post was arguing that "coding" isn't an essential life skill in the way for example reading is and that massive amounts of new coders might not be that good for the world. How is this refuted here in any way?…
>Where is this resentment thing pulled from?
Jeff's post: Please Don't Learn to Code
Zed's books: Learn To Code The Hard Way
Re: Please Don't Become Anything, Especially Not A Programmer
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, because that's how life goes. I'm not going to attack the logic of an article that is illogical, I'm going to talk about the hypocrisy of the person writing it. The human stuff matters much more than the fantasy world of "logic".
I'm not going to attack the logic of an article that is illogical It seems to me that is the exactly the type of article you'd want to attack in that way. If you won't attack arguments with faulty logic on logical grounds, and you can't (correctly) attack arguments with correct logic on logical grounds, that implies you can never refute anyone logically, and that all your arguments will be ad hominems and suchlike.
That makes sense to me. But I also think maybe Zed is saying something along the lines of that proverb, "Don't argue with a fool," and that when it comes to people who are unreasonable it's sometimes easier to point out that they're generally unreasonable. (Though I see your point in that this bad in the same way any generalizations can be bad.)