---
layout:    post
title:     "Programming, as I see it"
date:      2013-03-01 23:32:35+00:00
permalink: /blog/2013/3/1/programming-as-i-see-it
published: false
author:
    name: Gergely Polonkai
    email: gergely@polonkai.eu
---

Since my age of around 11, I write code. I began with BASIC, which is,
well, the most basic language I have ever seen. Simply writing
<code>10 PRINT "Hello World!"</code> does the job (with Assembly it
would be tens of lines as I recall). Then I moved to Pascal, then
Delphi (which is basically the same thing). The next step was a bit
longer, as I started learning more languages after this, like Perl
(for dynamic web pages), C (for desktop applications), TCL (for
eggdrop programming. Yes, I might have been a weird kid), PHP (again,
for dynamic web pages. It was becoming mainstream back then).

Many of my classmates looked down on me, as they thought I was a geek (hell I
was, but I wouldn’t have confessed it then), and called me a nerd. For a few
months maybe I was depressed, but after that I realised that this is the thing
I want to do in my life, this is the thing I’m good at.

Most people I ask why don’t they code say “it’s too hard”. I’ve attended some
courses (both online and offline, and I was like “Whoa! Coding is extremely
hard! What the hell! I will never learn it!”, but right after the course I
realised that everything is just fine, I can still write programs, and it’s
eeeeasy. So then, what’s the problem?

After looking through many course papers, I found that most teachers do it
totally wrong. A programming language is just that: a language. You don’t start
learning Spanish by going into a classic literature conference in Madrid and
doing a speech, but learn the basic vocabulary and grammar. The same goes for
coding. You learn the vocabulary (the basic commands or keywords) and grammar
(syntax). I had several ideas how this could be taught, just didn’t have the
background to do it.

The idea of teaching programming lingers in my head for years now, and a few
days ago, I’ve bumped into [this
video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU1xS07N-FA). So it seems that
technology superstars like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg wants to do the same.
Maybe they don’t have enough high quality coders at hand. Well of course,
if teachers make it awfully hard to learn it! So a bunch of guys sat together
and created [code.org](http://www.code.org/) to achieve my old dream. I like
the idea. And although I have almost no visitor on this blog of mine, allow me
to give you a few points on how I see programming.

####  Great learning process

When you write programs, especially during the first years, you adapt a new way
of thinking and learning. If you learn it as an adult, it can be a bit of a
pain, but as a child, it’s easy as learning how the wheels of those little cars
spin).

####  A job

####  Art

####  Magic
