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A typewriter is an optional tool for producing a written work. With programming the computer is a necessary object required for converting the intentions of a p

A typewriter is an optional tool for producing a written work. With programming the computer is a necessary object required for converting the intentions of a programmer into both information about the world and actions within it. I think it's fundamental to understanding code to grasp a meaningful model of what a computer is and how it turns key presses into code on the screen and in a file, how it turns the code in that file into a sequence of simple instructions and finally what those instructions do. This article did a good job of that as well as many other aspects of software development.

Tloewald 11y ago
A keyboard is just as optional as a typewriter. When I first learned to program the device I learned on did not have a keyboard in the sense described; many people have learned to program by, e.g. Flipping switches on a panel. The first computer-like things (e.g. Jacquard looms) were programmed by physical objects — indeed one of the first gadgets I learned to program used punchcards you punched manually with a pencil. The digression into keyboards exemplifies the "self indulgent brain dump" issue I am complaining about. It reminds me of "Mathematics made difficult" except that the book in question was humorous and not pretending to make its subject more accessible.
- justinhj 11y ago
  I didn't mention keyboards in my comment.
Tloewald 11y ago
Beating a dead horse: This article is great for a reasonably knowledgeable programmer to read and think "oh yes, this really nails what a complex and subtle and deep thing programming is, how astonishing it is that when I type a key so much magic happens to even make it appear on a screen, let alone be saved somewhere for posterity, and how amazingly clever I am for understanding all this stuff... mostly". What it completely fails to do is explain programming, or "code" to anyone else. And wasn't that the point?

Tloewald 11y ago

A keyboard is just as optional as a typewriter. When I first learned to program the device I learned on did not have a keyboard in the sense described; many people have learned to program by, e.g. Flipping switches on a panel. The first computer-like things (e.g. Jacquard looms) were programmed by physical objects — indeed one of the first gadgets I learned to program used punchcards you punched manually with a pencil. The digression into keyboards exemplifies the "self indulgent brain dump" issue I am complaining about. It reminds me of "Mathematics made difficult" except that the book in question was humorous and not pretending to make its subject more accessible.

justinhj 11y ago
I didn't mention keyboards in my comment.

Tloewald 11y ago

Beating a dead horse: This article is great for a reasonably knowledgeable programmer to read and think "oh yes, this really nails what a complex and subtle and deep thing programming is, how astonishing it is that when I type a key so much magic happens to even make it appear on a screen, let alone be saved somewhere for posterity, and how amazingly clever I am for understanding all this stuff... mostly". What it completely fails to do is explain programming, or "code" to anyone else. And wasn't that the point?