6 ms·

This will get way more young kids interested in programming than all the subsidized school programs combined, by the way

aviv 8y ago
I don't understand what drives parents to want their kids to become code monkeys. I would rather my kids be financially savvy and have business skills. It sure doesn't hurt to know how to code, but getting them to program in Python from age 10 does not make them entrepreneurs or creators of business opportunities, it just makes them the labor workers of tomorrow.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- always_good 8y ago
  There's nothing you can do to guarantee they are successful. What you can do is expose your kid to a lot of things and help them find something they're passionate about. Ideally something they can use to pay their bills too when their business fails. I don't see why some programming/tech exposure can't be one of those things. I work fewer hours and have more lateral mobility than pretty much all my friends that make as much money as I do. Software engineering is a good field. Nobody is saying you have to force it down anyone's throat, and that's not what a Minecraft scripting API is doing. What a great creative opportunity though for kids out there to dabble in programming due to a game they love. That doesn't preclude them from being financially savvy in the future. They're kids.
- texuf 8y ago
  That’s kind of like saying, “Teaching them to write just makes them the scribes and court officials of tomorrow,” or, “Teaching them to add and subtract makes them the bookkeepers and tax collectors of tomorrow.”
  - aviv 8y ago
    My issue is not with the act of programming, just as I don't have an issue with the act of writing something on a paper. The issue is that the parents are doing this in order to set the kids up to a career in programming, which IMO is going to be the blue collar work of their future. There is no glory in being a code monkey 10 years from now... just a decently paid blue collar worker making someone else rich. Teach them the business skills that will enable them to properly hire and evaluate 20 programmers for their business venture, not simply be one of those 20 programmers.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - skybrian 8y ago
      Looking down on being a "decently paid blue collar worker" is not something anyone decent is going to want to teach their kids.
      - aviv 8y ago
        I'm sorry I want more for my kids than them being a car mechanic. Nothing wrong if that ends up happening, but I'm not going to teach them to fix cars at 10 with the intention of them being a mechanic growing up.
        icebraining 8y ago
        What is "more"?
    - nugator 8y ago
      Why do you think all those parents wants their kids to have a programming career? Do you think the same of parents putting their kids in musical instrument classes? Don't you think there will be any joy working with code in 10 years time?
    - antoinevg 8y ago
      My Dude… there are so many more roles programmers can play in the world than this little fantasy of yours where you get to be Mr Scrooge McDuck.
- qwerty9876 8y ago
  Running their own server and having to make unique custom plugins to compete with other servers for players is also more effective business training than anything a school has to offer.
- neuronexmachina 8y ago
  Teaching someone to code is teaching them how to automate things, which is useful in many different careers. Being financially savvy is useful too, fortunately people can learn both.
  - giancarlostoro 8y ago
    > Being financially savvy is useful too, fortunately people can learn both. Didn't understand why they imply that being a code monkey means you know nothing about anything else... Must not be a code monkey themselves. Working with programmers you see people of all backgrounds who have a wealth of knowledge in all sorts of topics, some even have financial backgrounds, others business and military, and so on.
    - aviv 8y ago
      I've been programming for 20 years... I've come across very few programmers who have decent business/financial skills over this time period.
- Waterluvian 8y ago
  Name one domain that can't be enhanced by knowing how to code.
  - aviv 8y ago
    I have nothing against knowing how to code, but no 10 year old needs to be doing that, just going to make them even more used to a sedentary lifestyle and away from (real) social interaction.
    - Waterluvian 8y ago
      Agreed. Let's also shut down all the sedentary encouraging education that happens at 10. Math. Literacy. Science. Gym all the way!
    - giancarlostoro 8y ago
      You're better off targeting video games and social media, specifically the latter. Then again, kids don't even play video games, they watch someone else play video games.
      - aviv 8y ago
        Oh yeah, Twitch should be considered a health hazard for young impressionable kids. Wasting time and life away watching others play is something I just cannot comprehend.
- mgalgs 8y ago
  Some of us think that programming is actually fun.
banhfun 8y ago
I disagree. This would have been true like 4-6 years ago when Minecraft was still in the spotlight of the mainstream. Kids today have moved onto other games like Roblox and Fortnite
- TimothyBJacobs 8y ago
  Do you have a source for that? From another comment: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-10-02-minecraft-exceeds-90-million-monthly-active-users https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-10-02-minecraft-...
- ryl00 8y ago
  Roblox seems to have a pretty good Lua mod ecosystem.
  - chc4 8y ago
    Roblox has a very good Lua ecosystem. It's on the scale of an actual featureful game engine now, with free cloud hosting and microtransactions support and developer payouts that attract would-be gamedevs. It's been growing extremely rapidly with players, and makes it very easy for kids to open up the game editor and start slapping blocks around to try and switch from "consumer" to "producer". I'm 21. I first learned programming through Roblox when I was like 15. I don't play anymore, and haven't for years, but I have a giant friend group that also got introduced to programming through Roblox. A lot of them have gone on to work there now, and they've been making it better and better over the years. Minecraft is giant, and there are tons of mods for it, but also the barrier to entry for making those mods is extremely high. You have to open a command line, decompile a jar and deobfuscate the bytecode and then use Java, which historically isn't the best first language to pick up for a kid. More kids have probably been introduced to coding through ComputerCraft than have gotten a mod building correctly.
    - solarkraft 8y ago
      I did both and it was certainly pretty easy to open up the Minecraft jar and change what mobs spawn in which biomes or how far a ghast fires its fire balls. But I was already on Linux then.
ndnxhs 8y ago
Hasn't this been possible for ages? Like 6 years ago I tried writing a basic Minecraft mod before I knew programming.
- zanny 8y ago
  Theres a substantial difference in UX between integrating Java software via decompiling class files and having your community use process of elimination to figure out how everything works vs having an actual public and documented API for it.

aviv 8y ago

I don't understand what drives parents to want their kids to become code monkeys. I would rather my kids be financially savvy and have business skills. It sure doesn't hurt to know how to code, but getting them to program in Python from age 10 does not make them entrepreneurs or creators of business opportunities, it just makes them the labor workers of tomorrow.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
always_good 8y ago
There's nothing you can do to guarantee they are successful. What you can do is expose your kid to a lot of things and help them find something they're passionate about. Ideally something they can use to pay their bills too when their business fails. I don't see why some programming/tech exposure can't be one of those things. I work fewer hours and have more lateral mobility than pretty much all my friends that make as much money as I do. Software engineering is a good field. Nobody is saying you have to force it down anyone's throat, and that's not what a Minecraft scripting API is doing. What a great creative opportunity though for kids out there to dabble in programming due to a game they love. That doesn't preclude them from being financially savvy in the future. They're kids.
texuf 8y ago
That’s kind of like saying, “Teaching them to write just makes them the scribes and court officials of tomorrow,” or, “Teaching them to add and subtract makes them the bookkeepers and tax collectors of tomorrow.”
- aviv 8y ago
  My issue is not with the act of programming, just as I don't have an issue with the act of writing something on a paper. The issue is that the parents are doing this in order to set the kids up to a career in programming, which IMO is going to be the blue collar work of their future. There is no glory in being a code monkey 10 years from now... just a decently paid blue collar worker making someone else rich. Teach them the business skills that will enable them to properly hire and evaluate 20 programmers for their business venture, not simply be one of those 20 programmers.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - skybrian 8y ago
    Looking down on being a "decently paid blue collar worker" is not something anyone decent is going to want to teach their kids.
    - aviv 8y ago
      I'm sorry I want more for my kids than them being a car mechanic. Nothing wrong if that ends up happening, but I'm not going to teach them to fix cars at 10 with the intention of them being a mechanic growing up.
      - icebraining 8y ago
        What is "more"?
  - nugator 8y ago
    Why do you think all those parents wants their kids to have a programming career? Do you think the same of parents putting their kids in musical instrument classes? Don't you think there will be any joy working with code in 10 years time?
  - antoinevg 8y ago
    My Dude… there are so many more roles programmers can play in the world than this little fantasy of yours where you get to be Mr Scrooge McDuck.
qwerty9876 8y ago
Running their own server and having to make unique custom plugins to compete with other servers for players is also more effective business training than anything a school has to offer.
neuronexmachina 8y ago
Teaching someone to code is teaching them how to automate things, which is useful in many different careers. Being financially savvy is useful too, fortunately people can learn both.
- giancarlostoro 8y ago
  > Being financially savvy is useful too, fortunately people can learn both. Didn't understand why they imply that being a code monkey means you know nothing about anything else... Must not be a code monkey themselves. Working with programmers you see people of all backgrounds who have a wealth of knowledge in all sorts of topics, some even have financial backgrounds, others business and military, and so on.
  - aviv 8y ago
    I've been programming for 20 years... I've come across very few programmers who have decent business/financial skills over this time period.
Waterluvian 8y ago
Name one domain that can't be enhanced by knowing how to code.
- aviv 8y ago
  I have nothing against knowing how to code, but no 10 year old needs to be doing that, just going to make them even more used to a sedentary lifestyle and away from (real) social interaction.
  - Waterluvian 8y ago
    Agreed. Let's also shut down all the sedentary encouraging education that happens at 10. Math. Literacy. Science. Gym all the way!
  - giancarlostoro 8y ago
    You're better off targeting video games and social media, specifically the latter. Then again, kids don't even play video games, they watch someone else play video games.
    - aviv 8y ago
      Oh yeah, Twitch should be considered a health hazard for young impressionable kids. Wasting time and life away watching others play is something I just cannot comprehend.
mgalgs 8y ago
Some of us think that programming is actually fun.

banhfun 8y ago

I disagree. This would have been true like 4-6 years ago when Minecraft was still in the spotlight of the mainstream. Kids today have moved onto other games like Roblox and Fortnite

TimothyBJacobs 8y ago
Do you have a source for that? From another comment: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-10-02-minecraft-exceeds-90-million-monthly-active-users https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-10-02-minecraft-...
ryl00 8y ago
Roblox seems to have a pretty good Lua mod ecosystem.
- chc4 8y ago
  Roblox has a very good Lua ecosystem. It's on the scale of an actual featureful game engine now, with free cloud hosting and microtransactions support and developer payouts that attract would-be gamedevs. It's been growing extremely rapidly with players, and makes it very easy for kids to open up the game editor and start slapping blocks around to try and switch from "consumer" to "producer". I'm 21. I first learned programming through Roblox when I was like 15. I don't play anymore, and haven't for years, but I have a giant friend group that also got introduced to programming through Roblox. A lot of them have gone on to work there now, and they've been making it better and better over the years. Minecraft is giant, and there are tons of mods for it, but also the barrier to entry for making those mods is extremely high. You have to open a command line, decompile a jar and deobfuscate the bytecode and then use Java, which historically isn't the best first language to pick up for a kid. More kids have probably been introduced to coding through ComputerCraft than have gotten a mod building correctly.
  - solarkraft 8y ago
    I did both and it was certainly pretty easy to open up the Minecraft jar and change what mobs spawn in which biomes or how far a ghast fires its fire balls. But I was already on Linux then.

ndnxhs 8y ago

Hasn't this been possible for ages? Like 6 years ago I tried writing a basic Minecraft mod before I knew programming.

zanny 8y ago
Theres a substantial difference in UX between integrating Java software via decompiling class files and having your community use process of elimination to figure out how everything works vs having an actual public and documented API for it.