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>they seem to grasp these at a much deeper level than I did at that age.. What real difference will it make in the future? I think none. Some one who understan

>they seem to grasp these at a much deeper level than I did at that age.. What real difference will it make in the future? I think none. Some one who understanding recursion when they were 10 will not end up much better programmer than someone who was exposed to it at 20, and have sufficient experience in using the concept. Same with other CS concepts. The idea of making kids learn this sounds great, because it looks great when kids do stuff with computers. But it is not really giving them and advantage in the future.

piokuc 10y ago
Why do you think so? It's a common knowledge early start gives one an advantage in many disciplines: music, ballet, chess. Why are you so sure programming is so different?
- imakesnowflakes 10y ago
  I think those things are different. How many people in the world can create music like Beethoven or Mozart? How many people would have been able to beat Deep Blue in chess at that time? I can imagine there would be music that could only be rendered on a piano or violin, by only a hand full of people in the whole world. In a similar manner, do you know a program that could only have been written by an 'expert' programmer, or only a hand full of expert programmers in the whole world? I don't think so. The essence of what I am saying is that, programming is not a hard enough thing to waste those precious early years on.
  - piokuc 10y ago
    Yes, I can think of programs that can only be designed and implemented by top 1% of programmers. Regarding "programming is not a [...] thing to waste those precious early years on.", well, this is not something I'd like to argue about, just want to say that learning programming by a kid doesn't have to be (and, of course, shouldn't be) a 8h or more daily activity, like for a professional adult programmer. I think an hour per week of learning programming can be a valuable exercise in logical thinking, creativity and problem solving. It can easily be a lot of fun, too.
    - imakesnowflakes 10y ago
      > I can think of programs that can only be designed and implemented by top 1% of programmers... Interesting. Can you share some of those...? EDIT: Oh, I just noticed that you said top 1% of all programmers. I was not talking about top 1%. I was talking about a handfull of them. Top 1% would be quite more than a hand full. But please share those programs anyway...
      - piokuc 10y ago
        There is plenty of things like that, but it's really off topic.

piokuc 10y ago

Why do you think so? It's a common knowledge early start gives one an advantage in many disciplines: music, ballet, chess. Why are you so sure programming is so different?

imakesnowflakes 10y ago
I think those things are different. How many people in the world can create music like Beethoven or Mozart? How many people would have been able to beat Deep Blue in chess at that time? I can imagine there would be music that could only be rendered on a piano or violin, by only a hand full of people in the whole world. In a similar manner, do you know a program that could only have been written by an 'expert' programmer, or only a hand full of expert programmers in the whole world? I don't think so. The essence of what I am saying is that, programming is not a hard enough thing to waste those precious early years on.
- piokuc 10y ago
  Yes, I can think of programs that can only be designed and implemented by top 1% of programmers. Regarding "programming is not a [...] thing to waste those precious early years on.", well, this is not something I'd like to argue about, just want to say that learning programming by a kid doesn't have to be (and, of course, shouldn't be) a 8h or more daily activity, like for a professional adult programmer. I think an hour per week of learning programming can be a valuable exercise in logical thinking, creativity and problem solving. It can easily be a lot of fun, too.
  - imakesnowflakes 10y ago
    > I can think of programs that can only be designed and implemented by top 1% of programmers... Interesting. Can you share some of those...? EDIT: Oh, I just noticed that you said top 1% of all programmers. I was not talking about top 1%. I was talking about a handfull of them. Top 1% would be quite more than a hand full. But please share those programs anyway...
    - piokuc 10y ago
      There is plenty of things like that, but it's really off topic.