The everyone should code thing is easy to point at as slightly obtuse. At the very least, everyone should learn something about computer related technology. And maybe a little of that is how html and JS works. The plumbing/electrician/carpenter/auto-mechanic example is pretty apt. You should be able to unclog your toilet. You should also be able to recognize when the water main is fucked and you need to call a plumber (and a carpenter, and an electrician).
The everyone should code thing is easy to point at as slightly obtuse. At the very least, everyone should learn something about computer related technology. And maybe a little of that is how html and JS works. The plumbing/electrician/carpenter/auto-mechanic example is pretty apt. You should be able to unclog your toilet. You should also be able to recognize when the water main is fucked and you need to call a plumber (and a carpenter, and an electrician).
I figure the "Learn something about computers" point is so obvious, with the way our modern world is going, that it barely needs to be spoken. Except to those for whom it's not obvious, who will likely be left well behind by the progression of technology if they're not beaten around the head with it.
I'm not making the wizards and muggles argument, though - that argument is just silly - but using a computer at least semi-competently is essentially starting to become another point on the scale of essential life skills shared by Reading, writing and basic math.
Also, Incoming blow-up argument(with a 40% chance of pedantry) because I said the Wizards and muggles argument is silly. Too bad, come tear down and rebuild an engine with me sometime and see if it changes your perspective. If you absolutely cannot drive, and have never used a motor vehicle in any capacity, nor benifited from one in any way however, you are excused.
But anyway, consider the Author, consider where it was published, and consider the intended audience. It's really aimed at a crowd where a basic level of competency in computing is pretty much a given, and doesn't really need to be discussed to get the point of this article across. It would be like explaining why the basics of sewing are important to know when planning to make clothing, when you're giving a lecture about dressmaking, to a crowd full of dressmakers. These are not the people who need to be beaten around the head with it, they're the people who most of the time, are the ones doing the beating.
Anyone who drives should understand the basics of how a car works and how to identify common problems.
Can't fix a power steering leak, but recognize that the power steering is failing. Can't fix a failing hard drive, but recognize that the hard drive is failing.
Can't make gasoline, but can recognize when the gas tank is running out. Can't build a new hard drive, but can recognize when a hard drive is filling up.
Anyone who (Uses or Relies on object X) should understand the basics of how a (Object X) works and how to identify common problems.
It's pretty much the same with ANYTHING you use regularly. Either know how it works well enough to fix it, or know when to take it to someone who does.
I should add, a LOT of people don't. Haven't lived until you've explained to someone why they've gone through their third automatic gearbox, because they've been parking on a steep drive with no Parking brake, and then once it's bad enough that it should be fixed, kept driving it anyway, till it was completely fucked. I've seen that sort of thing happen with most common problems for a car, and that's not even counting the whacky shit. Like the guy who tried to change his own oil(way overdue for it) and was worried about what appeared to be small bits of metal in his oil. So he bottled up the oil, and tried to drive his car down to the shop. Without putting more oil in. That went precisely as you expect.
Lemmie spoiler the point, here - Motor vehicles are, and have been for a while now, complex enough that it's extremely difficult for a non-expert to be able to repair or maintain them, or even know when something that's not wheel-falling-off wrong, is wrong. Do you know how a car feels and behaves when you've got a bad oxygen sensor? And most people here are smarter than average, so I'm betting you know in the first place that it exists.
But, despite seeming like a Wizard/muggle divide, that's really a false dichotomy, since it's more of a spectrum of automotive knowledge, and it's one that isn't really that hard to move up, most of the time the knowledge is trivially available, if you have the time and/or money. And in reality, the wizard and the muggle get along just as well as each other in the wider world, since generally the detailed knowledge isn't necessary for day to day life, only for specific jobs or fields. You don't need to be a programmer, when you're a mechanic, or a blacksmith.
Coding is an interesting case, however, because it is significantly more approachable than people think and there are very clear lines between the "knowers" and the "not-knowers". Today, all you need to become code-literate is visit Code Academy or download one of the umpteen e-books on the subject. From there, the education and the application happen simultaneously. If you're learning plumbing or mechanics, you won't really know your skills unless you:
A. Take apart a system; B. Wait until you encounter some situation where the skill is needed (which may be in a few days... or may be in years); C. Read a manual/book and say that's sufficient;
In coding, you don't have many roadblocks. You just need a word processor and a interpreter. The only flaw with this rise of code education is we need to reiterate all of the applications, especially those that would benefit learner specifically. After we teach people how an int and string works, we need to show them how to build macros in Excel, or how command line is not intimidating and can make your life easier, or how a web site (and the internet as a whole) works.
But yeah, instances like the judge learning Java is awesome and should be happening more frequently in this century.
There's also the real problem that lots of people are learning to code, or trying to, but they aren't learning how computers actually work. That's the more important part.
This quarter, I took six classes that totaled 17 units. Next quarter, I'm taking the same number of classes, but they total only 12 units.
What does a unit count as? At RIT I would take 4 classes of 4 credits each. That only lasted ten weeks. That meant at least 16x3 credits per year.
All of them are ten week classes. It's two 4 unit classes and four 1 unit classes. Each 1 unit class only meets once a week for an hour. Most music programs have this weird quirk, whereas for most other majors pretty much all your core classes are 4 units. The thing that sucks is that many of these 1 unit classes are notoriously difficult, and the reason I have to take so many is that they're only offered this quarter and 12 units is the minimum for full-time enrollment.
Anyone else have trouble telling Scott from Nine? Too oft I don't notice which direction Apreche is spelled or the avatar is facing.
Because username and avatar matter for the content of the post, right? Writing styles also do not vary. Don't worry, I managed to make myself peak up momentarily at my own post when I switched back to a tab I had just posted in. That was due to being too distracted with more awesome stuff though, so it's to be expected.
I heard someone say japanimation for the first time today.
I know that. The only time I've heard it used seriously was in Maine across the street from Portcon. He was wearing a plaid button down short sleeve shirt and an un-ironic trucker hat.
Wait until he's up on the podium and they ask "If anyone should have a reason that this person should not receive their diploma, speak now or forever hold your peace.". Then you Dave Riley through the ceiling and snatch it out of his hands.
Comments
I'm not making the wizards and muggles argument, though - that argument is just silly - but using a computer at least semi-competently is essentially starting to become another point on the scale of essential life skills shared by Reading, writing and basic math.
Also, Incoming blow-up argument(with a 40% chance of pedantry) because I said the Wizards and muggles argument is silly. Too bad, come tear down and rebuild an engine with me sometime and see if it changes your perspective. If you absolutely cannot drive, and have never used a motor vehicle in any capacity, nor benifited from one in any way however, you are excused.
But anyway, consider the Author, consider where it was published, and consider the intended audience. It's really aimed at a crowd where a basic level of competency in computing is pretty much a given, and doesn't really need to be discussed to get the point of this article across. It would be like explaining why the basics of sewing are important to know when planning to make clothing, when you're giving a lecture about dressmaking, to a crowd full of dressmakers. These are not the people who need to be beaten around the head with it, they're the people who most of the time, are the ones doing the beating.
Can't fix a power steering leak, but recognize that the power steering is failing.
Can't fix a failing hard drive, but recognize that the hard drive is failing.
Can't make gasoline, but can recognize when the gas tank is running out.
Can't build a new hard drive, but can recognize when a hard drive is filling up.
I should add, a LOT of people don't. Haven't lived until you've explained to someone why they've gone through their third automatic gearbox, because they've been parking on a steep drive with no Parking brake, and then once it's bad enough that it should be fixed, kept driving it anyway, till it was completely fucked. I've seen that sort of thing happen with most common problems for a car, and that's not even counting the whacky shit. Like the guy who tried to change his own oil(way overdue for it) and was worried about what appeared to be small bits of metal in his oil. So he bottled up the oil, and tried to drive his car down to the shop. Without putting more oil in. That went precisely as you expect.
Lemmie spoiler the point, here - Motor vehicles are, and have been for a while now, complex enough that it's extremely difficult for a non-expert to be able to repair or maintain them, or even know when something that's not wheel-falling-off wrong, is wrong. Do you know how a car feels and behaves when you've got a bad oxygen sensor? And most people here are smarter than average, so I'm betting you know in the first place that it exists.
But, despite seeming like a Wizard/muggle divide, that's really a false dichotomy, since it's more of a spectrum of automotive knowledge, and it's one that isn't really that hard to move up, most of the time the knowledge is trivially available, if you have the time and/or money. And in reality, the wizard and the muggle get along just as well as each other in the wider world, since generally the detailed knowledge isn't necessary for day to day life, only for specific jobs or fields. You don't need to be a programmer, when you're a mechanic, or a blacksmith.
A. Take apart a system;
B. Wait until you encounter some situation where the skill is needed (which may be in a few days... or may be in years);
C. Read a manual/book and say that's sufficient;
In coding, you don't have many roadblocks. You just need a word processor and a interpreter. The only flaw with this rise of code education is we need to reiterate all of the applications, especially those that would benefit learner specifically. After we teach people how an int and string works, we need to show them how to build macros in Excel, or how command line is not intimidating and can make your life easier, or how a web site (and the internet as a whole) works.
But yeah, instances like the judge learning Java is awesome and should be happening more frequently in this century.
Then you Dave Riley through the ceiling and snatch it out of his hands.