Re:Throwing in the towel on becomming a programmer
by lutusp on Friday February 14, 2014 @05:42PM
(#7241549)
> One cannot be a skilled code-writer without knowing how to read code, and having read a lot of code, but without having written any code, I don't think reading code provides any enlightenment.
You make some good points, but as just one counterexample, the famed distorting effect of BASIC on a beginning programmer is certainly made worse by allowing the student to write BASIC as well as read it. As to, say, Python, I guess this is less of an issue, and writing a bit of Python just to see what happens probably has a beneficial effect on comprehension.
But, granted that point, I think reading and understanding the code of skilled programmers, before trying to write any significant code, is a very good idea. Otherwise one risks becoming trapped in classic beginner errors like laboriously processing individual data elements instead of looping through a list of them with one processing function (an error I saw any number of times while teaching programming).
You make some good points, but as just one counterexample, the famed distorting effect of BASIC on a beginning programmer is certainly made worse by allowing the student to write BASIC as well as read it. As to, say, Python, I guess this is less of an issue, and writing a bit of Python just to see what happens probably has a beneficial effect on comprehension.
But, granted that point, I think reading and understanding the code of skilled programmers, before trying to write any significant code, is a very good idea. Otherwise one risks becoming trapped in classic beginner errors like laboriously processing individual data elements instead of looping through a list of them with one processing function (an error I saw any number of times while teaching programming).