4 ms·

Interesting how many of the comments in this thread take the form of "This article is bullshit! I started coding when I was eight because I got my first compute

Interesting how many of the comments in this thread take the form of "This article is bullshit! I started coding when I was eight because I got my first computer by way of [something other than privilege or affluence]." Because if you've been coding since you were eight then you should probably know by now the difference between anecdotes and data. [Full disclosure: I did my first hacking with BASIC and Rexx at around seven or eight because my parents were wealthy enough to afford an Amiga 500--but this experience would never inspire me to write an article claiming that everyone who started coding at a young age must have come from similar socioeconomic conditions.]

abstractbill 16y ago
Because if you've been coding since you were eight then you should probably know by now the difference between anecdotes and data. And if you've been coding since eight, you should also know that it takes only one counterexample to disprove a claim that X always implies Y.
csbrooks 16y ago
I've just personally known so many professional programmers who grew up in a barely-middle-class household. Myself included. (Not that one more anecdote is needed, but I remember getting a Commodore computer one Christmas, and getting a hard drive the next Christmas, and the whole thing was hooked up to an old black and white TV.) Also, I've worked with some good programmers who learned to program in college. Yes, the competition is tough, but that's because programmers tend to be smart, not because they've been programming since they were 8, necessarily. The premise of the article just completely
kd0amg 16y ago
Because if you've been coding since you were eight then you should probably know by now the difference between anecdotes and data. And that enjoying a privilege despite limited resources doesn't make it not a privilege. And that most of them relied on decisions made by an adult, not by the future hacker (parents stretching their budgets, teachers/schools offering use of their computers, etc.).

abstractbill 16y ago

Because if you've been coding since you were eight then you should probably know by now the difference between anecdotes and data. And if you've been coding since eight, you should also know that it takes only one counterexample to disprove a claim that X always implies Y.

csbrooks 16y ago

I've just personally known so many professional programmers who grew up in a barely-middle-class household. Myself included. (Not that one more anecdote is needed, but I remember getting a Commodore computer one Christmas, and getting a hard drive the next Christmas, and the whole thing was hooked up to an old black and white TV.) Also, I've worked with some good programmers who learned to program in college. Yes, the competition is tough, but that's because programmers tend to be smart, not because they've been programming since they were 8, necessarily. The premise of the article just completely

kd0amg 16y ago

Because if you've been coding since you were eight then you should probably know by now the difference between anecdotes and data. And that enjoying a privilege despite limited resources doesn't make it not a privilege. And that most of them relied on decisions made by an adult, not by the future hacker (parents stretching their budgets, teachers/schools offering use of their computers, etc.).