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Who imposes programming on uninterested children? As for the interested ones, you 'impose' certain programming languages on kids because 1) they want to learn
by georgieporgie 16y ago
Who imposes programming on uninterested children?
As for the interested ones, you 'impose' certain programming languages on kids because 1) they want to learn to program and 2) you need a standardized way to teach. If you want to develop the manner of thinking required to assemble and organize algorithms, making a turtle move around the screen is a fine way to do it.
- spc476 16y agoNo one imposed my first language on me, it was the environment that did (you turn on the computer, there was BASIC; why yes, I did receive an 8-bit computer in the 80s). Worse, the only sources I had were books and magazines, since no one I knew could program (okay, I had two friends with computers, but we all had different ones, which made it difficult to swap programs).
- harisenbon 16y agoMy father-in-law, for one. When my wife was younger (I believe 10?), her father tried to force her to program in BASIC. She ended up hating computers and programming in particular. It was only recently that I was able to get her semi-interested in programming, but I don't think she'll ever really be interested in it. Personally, I had a similar experience to that of the original author. I inherited a Tandy1000 from my grandfather, and one of my father's friends was a programmer. He had made a version of Monopoly, and gave us the source code as well as the software. I was curious how the thing worked, and spent my afternoons changing the colors of dice, how much property was worth, etc.