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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 ex
by 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.