Hello world: Shining a light onto the culture of computer programmers

Re:Hello world: Shining a light onto the culture of computer... by golergka on Wednesday April 10, 2019 @04:20AM (#19622797)

> Nothing special, anyone can do it.

That's what I'm thinking every day while I'm working and talking to other developers.

But when I try to teach, or help non-coders who decide to take up coding, I am amazed every time to find out that there's one skill that I don't even think about that seems unteachable: structural thinking.

I can teach a person how to get an input from a user. I can teach a person how to process that input. I can teach a person how to present output to the user. I have not been able to teach a person how to decompose a task "calculate effective property tax rate" (or something similar) into those steps.

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Re:Hello world: Shining a light onto the culture of computer... by 2muchcoffeeman on Wednesday April 10, 2019 @05:17AM (#19623045)

I know good software engineers who believe in alternative medicines and doubt the efficacy of vaccines. I’ve met some that don’t even know the basics of how an OS or CPU works.

We’re not special as a group. We’re good at some stuff and also really bad at other stuff. Just like everyone else.

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Re:Hello world: Shining a light onto the culture of computer... by golergka on Wednesday April 10, 2019 @05:58AM (#19623206)

Your comment seems to be written as if it's a counterargument to something I said, but it doesn't contradict anything in my comment and I completely agree with your point.

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