Please Don't Learn To Code - Programming - Nairaland
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| Please Don't Learn To Code by delomos(m): 3:16pm On May 16, 2012 |
One of my favs, Jeff Atwood (co-founder of StackOverflow) wrote a super interesting article yesterday about the "learn-to-code hype" which hit a lot of chords, consdiering there are many "places" popping up here and there promising to turn you into a programming guru in a month or two or a few months, urrggg. It turns out that research has it to be proficient at anything, you need to have invest 10,000 hours doing it. Being good at programming, or music or anything in life meets the same principle it turns out programming is quite boring and lonely, having a passion to invest 10,000 hrs in it demands passion, real passion, not just a fad thing -- And here is an excerpt from JA (read the full here: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/05/please-dont-learn-to-code.html) ***** The "everyone should learn to code" movement isn't just wrong because it falsely equates coding with essential life skills like reading, writing, and math. I wish. It is wrong in so many other ways. It assumes that more code in the world is an inherently desirable thing. In my thirty year career as a programmer, I have found this … not to be the case. Should you learn to write code? No, I can't get behind that. You should be learning to write as little code as possible. Ideally none. It assumes that coding is the goal. Software developers tend to be software addicts who think their job is to write code. But it's not. Their job is to solve problems. Don't celebrate the creation of code, celebrate the creation of solutions. We have way too many coders addicted to doing just one more line of code already. It puts the method before the problem. Before you go rushing out to learn to code, figure out what your problem actually is. Do you even have a problem? Can you explain it to others in a way they can understand? Have you researched the problem, and its possible solutions, deeply? Does coding solve that problem? Are you sure? It assumes that adding naive, novice, not-even-sure-they-like-this-whole-programming-thing coders to the workforce is a net positive for the world. I guess that's true if you consider that one bad programmer can easily create two new jobs a year. And for that matter, most people who already call themselves programmers can't even code, so please pardon my skepticism of the sentiment that "everyone can learn to code". It implies that there's a thin, easily permeable membrane between learning to program and getting paid to program professionally. Just look at these new programmers who got offered jobs at an average salary of $79k/year(N11.1M) after attending a mere two and a half month bootcamp! Maybe you too can teach yourself Perl in 24 hours! While I love that programming is an egalitarian field where degrees and certifications are irrelevant in the face of experience, you still gotta put in your ten thousand hours like the rest of us. ********** 4 Likes |
| Re: Please Don't Learn To Code by ektbear: 7:30pm On May 16, 2012 |
delomos: I agree with this. Solving problems should be the goal, not writing code. |
| Re: Please Don't Learn To Code by okeyxyz(m): 8:15pm On May 16, 2012 |
My New Year's resolution is to learn to code with Codecademy in 2012! Join me. http://codeyear.com/ #codeyear that bloomberg himself would say the most nonsensical thing like this really got me loling. seriously?? he is never gonna code for a living nor is he gonna use it in his personal life (unlike other life essential skills such as MS Office) but he wants to invest time, money, effort & pain to learn to code? this man has just made rubbish of his reputation as a business savvy guy! well, i guess everybody is entitled to his 5min of madness per day. 1 Like |
| Re: Please Don't Learn To Code by ayox2003: 4:16pm On May 17, 2012 |
Lovely article you got there. As a young engineer in the field of telecoms, I've got some problems that requires programming skills, what programming language would you recommended that I learn? Plus, I would love to do some programming during my "free-time". Thanks. |
| Re: Please Don't Learn To Code by delomos(m): 1:36pm On May 18, 2012 |
ayox2003: Lovely article you got there.
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| Re: Please Don't Learn To Code by abbyode(m): 11:19am On May 24, 2012 |
Interesting Article!!! Should you wanna learn how to develop powerful desktop and web applications without writing a single line of code, please visit www.alphasoftware.com . You'll be glad you did. That's the future of programming. |
| Re: Please Don't Learn To Code by ayox2003: 4:19pm On May 24, 2012 |
delomos: Having checked the thread I've decided to learn python. Any advice or comment you would like me to bear in mind? |
| Re: Please Don't Learn To Code by bb6xt(m): 4:49pm On May 29, 2012 |
delomos: I guess that's true if you consider that one bad programmer can easily create two new jobs a year. We need more jobs in Nigeria anyway. |
| Re: Please Don't Learn To Code by Nmeri17: 1:47pm On May 28, 2016 |
okeyxyz:chill forst!  https://www.quora.com/How-is-NYC-Mayor-Michael-Bloomberg-doing-on-Codecademys-code-year |
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