Learning to program is getting harder

Re:Learning to program is getting harder by mirimir on Saturday February 17, 2018 @03:09AM (#16399661)

Familiarity with how computers work arguably peaked during the early-mid PC era. The first computer that I used was an IBM 360. Basically, someone showed me how to punch cards, and how to enter my data. After submitting the job, I'd find out the next day whether it crashed, or completed properly. And after a few tries, I got my results.

But nowhere in that process did I know anything about IBM 360s, or how to program or run them. I more-or-less understood the mathematics involved in the data processing. And I could somewhat parse the Fortran. But I had no concept of anything like a directory hierarchy.

With an IBM XT 286, on the other hand, it was all in my face.

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Re:Learning to program is getting harder by veddox on Saturday February 17, 2018 @04:23AM (#16399862)

> Familiarity with how computers work arguably peaked during the early-mid PC era.

Now there's an interesting observation. I'm not quite sure whether you're right, but quite possibly.

Looking around my local libraries and bookstores, most of the books that deal with using personal computers do seem to be from the 90s/early 2000s era. The question is whether the decline in these books indicate that they are not needed any more, or that they are not wanted anymore (due to "hidden complexity")?

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Re:Learning to program is getting harder by josteink on Saturday February 17, 2018 @08:49AM (#16400643)

> With an IBM XT 286, on the other hand, it was all in my face.

Earlier in the pre-PC age, for the hobbyists you had similar experiences with home computers like Tandy RadioShack, ZX spectrum, Commodore Vic-20 or 64, not to mention the Amigas and Ataris (and all the others I’m old enough to have forgotten).

Early Macs also let you mess around (and mess up) your system too.

It was an exciting time in computing indeed, but it did in no way start with the PC.

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Re:Learning to program is getting harder by mirimir on Saturday February 17, 2018 @05:24PM (#16403109)

Yes, it was sloppy of me to say "PCs". I meant personal computers, more generally. Which arguably includes all the pre-PC ones.

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Re:Learning to program is getting harder by tripzilch on Monday February 19, 2018 @01:30PM (#16414637)

I believe they were called "home computers", then?

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