4 ms·
> . How many people in the world have the IQ to write a program of say 100 lines that does something useful? Have the IQ necessary? Probably 90-95%. Have the
by BoiledCabbage 9y ago
> . How many people in the world have the IQ to write a program of say 100 lines that does something useful?
Have the IQ necessary? Probably 90-95%.
Have the training? Significantly lower. The training required consists of both being taught a language/medium to express thought it, and being taught a structured cause and event method of thinking.
There's this incredibly pervasive view in a lot of areas that programming requires some amazing IQ. It requires about the same level of IQ as reading & writing. But just like reading and writing, it requires training, and from a younger age the easier. If someone wants to approach it later in life, then having already learned or being familiar with transferable skills and thinking helps immensely.
- ModernMech 9y agoThis is actually the thesis behind Eve. Humans are incredible problem solvers, and we did it for millennia without computers. Computers are great tools for problem solving, but for many problems they are obtuse not because they are inherently hard, but because we have made them unnecessarily so. Take away all that ancillary complexity, and you're left with a tool and the essence of a problem. Most reasonably intelligent people should be able to take it from there.
- kamaal 9y ago>>Humans are incredible problem solvers, and we did it for millennia without computers. Some humans are incredible problem solvers. Most are not, and most importantly don't want to be.
- falcor84 9y agoEven assuming that programming is no harder than writing (which I highly doubt), I'm doubtful that 90% of people can write 100 lines of effective prose, even after 16 years of schooling. For what it's worth, I'm not quite sure I could.
- alphaalpha101 9y agoWhat is effective prose? Understandable? Understandable with a little effort? Understandable with considerable effort?
- sheepmullet 9y ago> Have the training? Significantly lower. And the majority of people are not autodidacts so they need somebody to teach them. The business side of our department are heavy Excel users and yet only a few can use Macros/VB properly and those people are in huge demand.
- jononor 9y agoHow many of them want or need to use Macros/VB properly? What people know and don't know is often strongly impacted by that, sometimes more than the underlying difficulty.