> > intro computer programming > > > > computers are an interesting tool that are capable of independent > > behavior. In fact, computers are considered to be able to do anything > > a human can do. In reality they cannot give birth and many other > > things, but they can make money more effectively than humans, which is > > changing our world severely. > > > > So, when you learn computer programming there is a sweet spot of > > completely random length where you can make computers do absolutely > > anything for you like a god, until you stop being able to do this. To > > make this sweet spot last longer you basically have to be careful and > > lucky. > > > > To _get_ to the sweet spot, you traditionally learn to program them, > > by writing code. > > Likely because of conflict around that “sweet spot”, most modern > programming is done in languages called “procedural”. > Procedural languages have the computer do things in a very rote > step-by-step manner, always in the same order, only making very simple > decisions exactly when and how they are told. > This is very nonintuitive for almost everybody when starting out, > because it is not how most humans usually think, so normal computer > programming is mostly about translating human interpretations of > problems into these small rote steps that the computer expects.
I always say that when starting out programming you should immediately learn to use the interactive debugger with a view of the locals visible, and step through. It makes the unintuitive procedural behavior very clear, explaining every part. …
