The conclusion is that either people are in a big rush to learn about programming, or that programming is somehow fabulously easier to learn than anything else. Felleisen et al. give a nod to this trend in their book How to Design Programs, when they say "Bad programming is easy. Idiots can learn it in 21 days, even if they are dummies." The Abtruse Goose comic also had their take.
Learnable Programming
Here's a trick question: How do we get people to understand programming?
Motivating Adult Learners by Introducing Programming Concepts with Scratch
Novice programmers usually fail to combine abstract concepts and knowledge into program design, even though they know the syntax and semantics of individual statement. Adult novice programmers with little computer background knowledge might face more ...
Learning to code is overrated: An accomplished programmer would rather his kids learn to read and reason
Mayor de Blasio is winning widespread praise for his recent promise that, within 10 years, all of New York City’s public schoolchildren will take computer science classes. But as a career programmer who founded two successful software…
How To Think Like A Programmer
Learn to code. Or don't.
Reasons to learn to code: * You have an offer for a job that involves coding, or could benefit from it * Existing tools don’t serve your needs well, or at all * You enjoy it “Learn to code” is the common refrain for what to do when you’re poor. It’
The End of Programming as We Know It
With the O’Reilly learning platform, you get the resources and guidance to keep your skills sharp and stay ahead. Try it free for up to 14 days.
Its Time for a New Programming Language
Today, when compared to any other point in programming history, we find ourselves spoiled for choice when it comes to programming…
How to keep learning in the age of LLMs | Oğuzhan Olguncu
Notes on how I keep learning as a programmer in the age of LLMs
Reflections on a decade of coding
I've been programming professionally for about 12 years. Here are some of the things I worked on in the last 2 years.
Scratch is a big deal
While none of us were paying attention, Scratch has transformed from a programming language for kids to a massive online community of self-guided, student-pr...
Why Computing Students Should Contribute to Open Source Software Projects
Learning to program is—for many practical, historical, as well as some vacuous reasons—a rite of passage in probably all computer science, informatics, software engineering, and computer engineering courses. For many decades, this skill would reliably set computing graduates apart from their peers in other disciplines. In this Viewpoint, I argue that in the 21st century programming proficiency on its own is neither representative of the skills that the marketplace requires from computing graduates, nor does it offer the strong vocational qualifications it once did. Accordingly, I propose that computing students should be encouraged to contribute code to open source software projects through their curricular activities. I have been practicing and honing this approach for more than 15 years in a software engineering course where open source contributions are an assessed compulsory requirement.2 Based on this experience, I explain why the ability to make such contributions is the modern generalization of coding skills acquisition, outline what students can learn from such activities, describe how an open source contribution exercise is embedded in the course, and conclude with practices that have underpinned the assignment's success.
What I've Learnt After Making My First Hobby Game
A lot of people (myself included) get into software development because of computer games — as a kid, I was amazed at computer games and always curious about how it was made. However, after finally getting into the industry, most people (myself included) end up not doing game development.
I Started Programming When I Was 7. I'm 50 Now, and the Thing I Loved Has Changed | James Randall
I still love developing but the shifts that AI have brought are tectonic and are forcing me to re-evaluate my own relationship to building things
I’m learning to code at 56. Here’s an epic beat-down of my critical inner self.
By VM Vaughn I’m 56 years old and learning to code. Why? Because I love it. And I’ve got a knack for it. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. It’s hard. And that’s OK. I love losing myself in an algorithm challenge. I love squeezing in a few extra minutes te...
Older Adults Learning Computer Programming: Motivations, Frustrations, and Design Opportunities
Online videos are a promising medium for older adults to learn. Yet, few studies have investigated what, how, and why they learn through online videos. In this study, we investigated older adults’ motivation, watching patterns, and difficulties in using ...
