2014-06-26 16:48:13 +00:00
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
|
|
layout: post
|
|
|
|
|
|
title: "Programming, as I see it"
|
2016-02-26 15:26:26 +00:00
|
|
|
|
date: 2013-03-01 23:32:35
|
2014-06-26 16:48:13 +00:00
|
|
|
|
permalink: /blog/2013/3/1/programming-as-i-see-it
|
|
|
|
|
|
published: false
|
|
|
|
|
|
author:
|
|
|
|
|
|
name: Gergely Polonkai
|
|
|
|
|
|
email: gergely@polonkai.eu
|
|
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2015-04-27 09:14:03 +00:00
|
|
|
|
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).
|
2014-06-26 16:48:13 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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
|
