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User pinewurst remembers writing fairly complex games in BASIC from 13 until he switched to the tiny miracle that was Turbo Pascal. I’m not debating the value o
by pinewurst 3y ago
User pinewurst remembers writing fairly complex games in BASIC from 13 until he switched to the tiny miracle that was Turbo Pascal. I’m not debating the value of those abstractions, but they’re hardly essential for building an enthusiastic programming mindset, especially when I think retrospectively.
I remember a conversation with someone who insisted that no one should be playing songs on the guitar until they first memorized all of the scales. I’m just strongly advocating building joy and a feeling of capability before anything else.
- teddyh 3y agoPlease don’t mistake me for someone having merely theoretical objections. I wrote BASIC code in the 1980s; both games and utility software. It is precisely because I did those things that I object to any BASIC lacking functions. The BASIC I used lacked functions, and I remember it being very difficult to do what I can now call abstractions and subroutines. This would have been vastly more easy if the BASIC I used had had user-defined proper functions.
- pinewurst 3y agoI'm not underestimating your objections by labeling them theoretical. We just have (respectfully) differing opinions on pedagogy. On the other end, I really can't stand Scratch as being distant enough from real programming to make the leap difficult (as seen by my son and fellow students).