"In Processing... There are no strong metaphors that allow the programmer to translate her experiences as a person into programming knowledge. The programmer ca

"In Processing... There are no strong metaphors that allow the programmer to translate her experiences as a person into programming knowledge. The programmer cannot solve a programming problem by performing it in the real world." We all learn to read at a very early stage in our lives. What is a real world metaphor for a letter? For a syllable? Or, taking an example from the article, what's the metaphor for a timeline? Or for time itself for that matter. I'm sceptical that having a metaphor matters that much. Also, I yet have to see any evidence that kids who start with Smalltalk learn programming faster than those who start with basic, or pascal, or anything else. There is frustratingly almost no case studies in this area.