This is a really interesting time capsule to me. > Most beginners in programming eventually end up with the same ingratiating message: "Programming is easy, ev

This is a really interesting time capsule to me. > Most beginners in programming eventually end up with the same ingratiating message: "Programming is easy, everyone can do it" This was not the message when I started programming. The message was much closer to it being something that is only for extremely smart and dedicated nerds. The message has been conscientiously shifted through dedicated messaging campaigns, for better or worse. As I learned to program, I thought the message at the time seemed wrong, that it seemed easier than the conventional wisdom suggested. But during school, that developing opinion was tempered by experiences I had working in groups with or tutoring people, some of whom just never seemed to get it; they were smart people and could understand the answer once arrived at, but never seemed able to independently get to the next answer. Some of these people are very successful with doctorates in other technical fields, but still really don't get programming. So my conclusion is that programming is neither uniquely hard nor at all easy, but definitely has some interaction with how individual people are wired to think and learn. This doesn't lend itself to nice slogans in an ad campaign though.