Hi Ivan, I don't mean to imply that the Eighties was necessarily a Golden Age of home-brewed programming, or that it even instilled the best programming practises -- i.e., BASIC -- but I think an argument can be made that programming literacy -- even bad literacy -- was much more general at that time. I'm not saying the literacy was higher or better -- clearly modern languages and paradigms are more powerful and expressive than BASIC and 6502 machine code -- but it's telling to see how much computer code was actually published for general consumption in IT magazines and in children's books. Even though many programs were probably printed because it was cheaper than distributing cassettes and disks, there were still plenty of explicative articles on programming practises, tips, tricks, etc. Perhaps this only had to do with software pricing and distribution channels for a given audience -- say, kids, teens, etc. -- but the net result must surely have been some interest and enthusiasm for being a software creator rather than just a consumer. I have a friend who is not in IT, who hasn't touched an 8-bit computer in 20 years, who still remembers fondly the UK-published Usborne series of kids books on BASIC programming -- and remembers in detail. These books and this culture made an impact on him on some level.
Although there are plenty of blogs and forums on programming out there, it's really sad that there isn't some mass medium for programming literacy -- and I suspect that a big part of it is that, despite its many documented flaws, BASIC at least had a small and graspable vocabulary that didn't require any header files, libraries, drivers, compilers, IDEs, or profiling tools. There is an enormous amount of software bureaucracy a budding programmer has to churn through these days before a 'Hello World' application -- and much more aggravation before producing usable and fun software. With all of these impediments, it's little wonder so many computer users -- and perhaps even programmers -- are consumers of the software and libraries of other people. If you don't have a real pressing need to 'roll your own' how can you possibly experience the incentive to design a better wheel -- or a magnetic levitation railway? ;-) Regards, Iian On 15 July 2012 13:58, Tomasz Rola <rto...@ceti.pl> wrote: > On Sun, 15 Jul 2012, Iian Neill wrote: > > I share your sentiment, even to the point of longing for home'puter with > Logo in ROM. But I don't share all of your views. As I had been able to > witness "80-ties home'puter craze" (and take part in it), my experience > from this time makes me guess that programming was not all the rage - but > gaming was. So, it was about consumption from the beginning of commercial > home'puter (i.e., the days of ZX81 and Spectrum - perhaps it was different > in the days of Altair). Only some percentage of us teens was interested in > programming. Of those, majority ended adventure after not very long - > there was not magic for them, or maybe they didn't know what to do with a > computer once they learned how to make simple programs. > > Obviously, Basic didn't help much with expressing more complicated ideas, > but frankly, I doubt any other language would change this. Well, natural > language, maybe :-) . And even then, there would have been a lot of > dissapointment, simply because so many people have so much problems with > spelling their minds precisely (not to forget about making minds first, > before they are ready for spelling). > > My guess is, this is about genetics. Your guesses and mileage may vary. I > used to believe everybody can learn to program but I don't anymore. Even > if this is only about upbringing (I doubt, but maybe), the main point is, > where there is no need, there is no will either. And without will, no > persistence, so learning slows and stops. > > Oh, I mean, yes, everybody can learn to program, but how many have any > kind of their own ideas for their own programs? Of all Lego (ab)users, how > many build their own constructs while the rest is content with copying > stuff? Of all literate humans, how many have something interesting to say, > worthy of saving on a piece of paper? > > I think these are many facets of the same thing. I am unwilling to name > the thing yet, afraid this would be like nailing bird alive to the wall. > Premature optimisation - other birds, on seeing such thing, fly away. I'd > rather wait and see, maybe I can spot more birds in a room. And have a > nailing gun. > > :-) > > BTW, there are many more affordable computers nowadays. Some of those, > called cell phones, win chess tournaments from time to time. There is > really nothing standing in the way of individual who would want to build a > simple environment for end user, thus giving him (end user) ability to > program much better than it was 30 years ago. > > Oh, wait. Do I smell Basic interpreter for cellphones? Crap. May the > history forgive me for mentioning abomination aloud. > > Actually, Python is simple enough to learn quickly. It is not my main lang > anymore, but I try to retain some knowledge of it and I consider it ideal > for casual/weekend programmer. Sooo... there are Python implementations > for many environments, but still... not so many programmers... sooo... I'm > afraid I am right (and not very happy about this). > > Regards, > Tomasz Rola > > -- > ** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature. ** > ** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home ** > ** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened... ** > ** ** > ** Tomasz Rola mailto:tomasz_r...@bigfoot.com ** > _______________________________________________ > fonc mailing list > fonc@vpri.org > http://vpri.org/mailman/listinfo/fonc >
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