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> I believe any programming is self-taught I think it is as self-taught as, say, carpentry, or playing an instrument. That is to say, it is certainly possible
by seabee 13y ago
> I believe any programming is self-taught
I think it is as self-taught as, say, carpentry, or playing an instrument.
That is to say, it is certainly possible to be excellent at what you do by putting in the hours, and you don't need anyone to achieve that, but it is wrong to think that only you can teach yourself. Learning from others can definitely accelerate your development.
- mbrock 13y agoThis is an opening if we wanted to discuss education in a general sense. I think you've pointed out a very interesting duality: self-taught versus taught-by-others. Of course, the reality of learning is very complex. It's always about engagement. For a teaching situation to function, there has to be a genuine engagement between the teacher and the student. In cases where students are, for whatever reason, very highly motivated, the "lecture" style of teaching might work. A sign of a functioning lecture would be that students ask relevant questions. This has not been the case in most of my university experience, where students mostly take notes of whatever is written on the blackboard, drink coffee, and ask things like "is this going to be on the exam?" It's interesting to think about the prospect of teaching carpentry through books, lectures, and online courses. Maybe it's possible. But I think simply having access to an environment of practice and active people to ask for help is the biggest factor. Hands-on help with an actual task at hand plus lots of individual experimentation.