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"...so why are we having a serious conversation about grooming children to become software developers before they’ve even gone to middle school?" We're not, re

by tribune 10y ago

"...so why are we having a serious conversation about grooming children to become software developers before they’ve even gone to middle school?" We're not, really, but given the pervasiveness of computing technology we're recognizing that it's important for children to have some formal experience with software design concepts regardless of which career path they choose. I'm a firm believer that at least some coding ability is beneficial in any profession. It's like writing, or vocabulary; you don't "need" it for some professions, per se, but being a good writer enhances both your professional and personal life in many ways, so it's worthwhile to teach. It's much the same with coding.

circlefavshape 10y ago
This. Whether or not we need more professional devs is beside the point. At coder dojos, for example, they're not teaching design patterns, they're teaching the basics - assignment, loops, conditionals - the kinds of things that allow you to automate computation in other fields of endeavour
- rimantas 10y ago
  There is also one million other skills that would be beneficial.
leggomylibro 10y ago
Exactly - teaching people how to use software to solve problems at an early age is not railroading them into a single career path, it's setting them up to be more effective in the career path that they eventually choose. An administrative assistant who can write scripts to collate and email weekly reports to their boss is far more valuable than one who spends four hours a week combing through excel spreadsheets. A visual artist who can write their own plugins for Blender/Maya/Photoshop/etc will be much more flexible and productive than one who performs the same 2-minute-long string of commands hundreds of times a day. A machinist who can quickly design a part in Solidworks and send it to a CNC mill or lathe will be able to serve a wider range of customer needs than one who outsources that design work or crafts the part by hand. And so on. Why is there so much hostility to the idea of teaching children some basic programming skills at an early age?

by tribune 10y ago

circlefavshape 10y ago

This. Whether or not we need more professional devs is beside the point. At coder dojos, for example, they're not teaching design patterns, they're teaching the basics - assignment, loops, conditionals - the kinds of things that allow you to automate computation in other fields of endeavour

rimantas 10y ago
There is also one million other skills that would be beneficial.

leggomylibro 10y ago

Exactly - teaching people how to use software to solve problems at an early age is not railroading them into a single career path, it's setting them up to be more effective in the career path that they eventually choose. An administrative assistant who can write scripts to collate and email weekly reports to their boss is far more valuable than one who spends four hours a week combing through excel spreadsheets. A visual artist who can write their own plugins for Blender/Maya/Photoshop/etc will be much more flexible and productive than one who performs the same 2-minute-long string of commands hundreds of times a day. A machinist who can quickly design a part in Solidworks and send it to a CNC mill or lathe will be able to serve a wider range of customer needs than one who outsources that design work or crafts the part by hand. And so on. Why is there so much hostility to the idea of teaching children some basic programming skills at an early age?