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> Of the people who are AT ALL interested in learning about programming, I have encountered exactly zero of them who aren't already excited about it. How is th

> Of the people who are AT ALL interested in learning about programming, I have encountered exactly zero of them who aren't already excited about it. How is this tautology at all helpful? Of course the people who are excited about programming are excited about it. For every one of those, how many view computers as entertaining magic boxes? Most non-programmers I know regard programming as a kind of impenetrable dark art. There is such a monumental disconnect between "Hello World" and "I can do whatever I want!" that most people just assume that they'll never be able to achieve any meaningful result. Being able to create something visually interesting that you can share with your friends is a big motivator, and I think you're too quick to deride it. Also, I don't get why you view this as something "barely worth learning." The "real world" doesn't run on Turbo Pascal anymore, and Javascript, like it or not, is a big part of modern programming. Do you really think it will be so difficult to translate skills acquired generating interesting games into skills that can be used in a modern web shop? Anyway, you're welcome to your opinion, I just personally don't understand it. Luckily for people that share your opinion, there are plenty of traditional CS resources all over the web and elsewhere to learn programming in the "real world." For those whose "real world" consists of playing games and wondering how they work, this might just be the thing that motivates them to look under the hood.

VikingCoder 14y ago
You call it a tautology, but my point is that Resig claims that "the most challenging problem that exists with Computer Science education" is "Getting people excited about programming." I do not think that is the most challenging problem that exists with Computer Science education. He doesn't just claim that it's a problem with Computer Science education. I agree that it's a problem, and I value tools that try to help. No, he's claiming it's "the most challenging problem." I strenuously disagree. I think the most challenging problem with Computer Science education is retention. I know a bunch of people, personally, who for whatever reasons, got excited about programming - they wanted to learn. They had their own intrinsic excitement for programming, and wanted to move forward. A few things hindered them, in my opinion: they had no idea how to get started, and even if they did get started, they soon lost interest because it wasn't obvious to them how the tools they had access to were ever going to get them anywhere they wanted to go. Given a goal - say, how do I make a game? - they did not believe there was a finish line they could cross. I can accept the criticism that I'm too quick to deride it. I'm sure this is a valuable tool for some people. Given the people that I know, who already were motivated, I do not believe this tool will help them at all, and that disappoints me because I had hoped for more. I think it's barely worth learning because I know hundreds of professional software developers, and I know approximately two of them who got to play with HTML5 Canvas at work - myself and a friend at another company. Both of us did it in our spare time, for fun, because our bosses would never have asked us to do it. If you know more people who are professional HTML5 Canvas developers, then your anecdote trumps mine.

VikingCoder 14y ago

You call it a tautology, but my point is that Resig claims that "the most challenging problem that exists with Computer Science education" is "Getting people excited about programming." I do not think that is the most challenging problem that exists with Computer Science education. He doesn't just claim that it's a problem with Computer Science education. I agree that it's a problem, and I value tools that try to help. No, he's claiming it's "the most challenging problem." I strenuously disagree. I think the most challenging problem with Computer Science education is retention. I know a bunch of people, personally, who for whatever reasons, got excited about programming - they wanted to learn. They had their own intrinsic excitement for programming, and wanted to move forward. A few things hindered them, in my opinion: they had no idea how to get started, and even if they did get started, they soon lost interest because it wasn't obvious to them how the tools they had access to were ever going to get them anywhere they wanted to go. Given a goal - say, how do I make a game? - they did not believe there was a finish line they could cross. I can accept the criticism that I'm too quick to deride it. I'm sure this is a valuable tool for some people. Given the people that I know, who already were motivated, I do not believe this tool will help them at all, and that disappoints me because I had hoped for more. I think it's barely worth learning because I know hundreds of professional software developers, and I know approximately two of them who got to play with HTML5 Canvas at work - myself and a friend at another company. Both of us did it in our spare time, for fun, because our bosses would never have asked us to do it. If you know more people who are professional HTML5 Canvas developers, then your anecdote trumps mine.