Thread: What do you guys think about this CodeYear thing?

Well the last thing we would want is for the guy that programs the controls of a nuclear power plant to think programming is easy... I think we can all agree on that...

Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom

I really don't know what to think about what's being said... there is a whole lot you can do with programming without getting into anything complicated or special. Some programmers really need to stop convincing themselves that everything they do is so incredible that only a select class of people can do any of it. What a person can learn in a year can save them a lifetime of manual effort. Conditional statements, control structures, basic I/O... it can go a long, long way and it doesn't take much intelligence to learn it. I don't know if you work in a living stereotype of a department, but where I'm from most of the people I know are more than competent enough to program if they could just get past their own feelings of intimidation.

That's all this is trying to achieve... it's asking people to take a look at programming and realize that there is a whole lot that can be achieved with little knowledge and little effort. Are you going to be up to a professional level in a year? No, of course not. Are some people going to think they are after a year? Sure... but then programming has tangible results, doesn't it? All it really takes is a few failed attempts at something above their pay grade for people to lose their ego about it. I really don't get the "If you're not going to dedicate yourself to it as much as I do, then don't bother" attitude. That's like Lance Armstrong starting a campaign to get people off of bicycles unless they're planning on trying to compete in the Tour de France. If an influx of people with basic programming knowledge has you concerned for your job or pay scale then you can't be very good at what you do.

Big honkin' disclaimer: I'm not a professional programmer, but I plan to have a career in programming someday soon.

I'm not concerned about the influx of people with basic programming knowledge threatening my perspective job opportunities. What I am concerned about are managers with basic programming knowledge not being able to accurately evaluate my skill because of their tainted perceptions of it. On larger scale, I'm concerned about programming and software development having a low social status.

Again, I agree with you that these courses are, in principle, a Good Thing. But you keep assuming that people are reasonable and rational. I claim that a large portion of them are, in fact, anything but. Therein lies our difference in how we view this.

Originally Posted by grumpy

All of your other points I agree with. This particular one I do not.

That's OK, because I agree with all of yours. I failed to articulate, what you so successfully did.

My concern in a nutshell, perhaps, is that today actual skill, knowledge and experience are being devalued in the business world and this is perforating all layers of society. This is done in favor of bureaucratic "proof" of the aforementioned -- certificates and degrees of disputable quality and worth. Work that takes time, anything that cannot be done "by noon tomorrow", because it demands effort, diligence and commitment by its very nature, is slowly but surely becoming an anathema. That just has to stop!

Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom

Well the last thing we would want is for the guy that programs the controls of a nuclear power plant to think programming is easy... I think we can all agree on that...

Yes, that we can.