First, let me set the record straight: while I cut my programming teeth on BASIC, I don’t agree with the title. Now that we’ve cleared that up…
This article by the same name, penned by Jeff Atwood, makes some extremely good points. In fact, I agree with nearly everything he says – short of the title, of course. 
BASIC, and the computers on which it came pre-loaded (or easily obtainable) in years past, got many people (myself included) into technology in general…and programming in particular. It helped me structure my thinking, helped me form a solid approach to general problem solving, helped me learn to work alone and with others to accomplish goals…but my “development” as a developer didn’t end there. Nor did it ruin future mastery of numerous programming languages, the client/server model, n-tier, web development, mobile, etc. etc. etc. It was a key part of my education, though, and one for which I am very thankful.
Today’s news of Jack Tramiel’s passing really brought it all home. The computer and programming pioneers of yesteryear (Kernighan & Ritchie, Stroustrup, Gosling, Gates & Allen, Woz, and yes, people like Jobs, Tramiel, Peddle, Bushnell, and others with various contributions) all touched and influenced the future in strange and wonderful ways. Regardless of what they did and how they did it, I’m thankful for them all.
But back to business: is BASIC really the evil that it’s often made out to be? Not on your life. Anything that can nurture a lifelong love of programming like BASIC did for me and countless others can be nothing but a good thing. Is it perfect? No. Does it encourage bad habits? It can. Clunky, cumbersome, and crude? Sometimes, in some packaging. But warts and all, it’s a net plus. So program something already…even if it is in BASIC. ;-) You’ll be glad you did and be better for it.
mk++
Related Articles:
Posted in Programming by .
- “@engadget: Internet worth a lot of money, is responsible for 4.7 percent of US economy http://t.co/BPS31azv”
Govts will fix, tax to death. #
Powered by Twitter Tools
Related Articles:
- “@Carlos_Perez: so no X11 on the new OSX ML, hope Wireshark updates before the release to use XQuartz only”
What? No X11? This is not good. # - @Carlos_Perez Ah, ok. After doing some more reading on it, it doesn't seem quite as disturbing. Mil gracias, Hermano! #
Powered by Twitter Tools
Related Articles:
- “@engadget: Xbox co-creator brings together Atari 'dream team' for mobile gaming startup http://t.co/WQUKEpYx”
Great plan, best of luck!!! #
Powered by Twitter Tools
Related Articles:
- Looking For A Worthy Competitor To Apple? Nokia’s Got The Goods [CES 2012] http://t.co/bF69nK1F #
- I just signed up for Wunderkit! Use this link to get early access to the beta. – http://t.co/5dVFRTAi via @6Wunderkinder #Wunderkit #
- “@cultofmac: This Ex-Mac Clone Maker Shut Down By Steve Jobs Wants His Robots To Buy Your Old iPhone [CES 2012] http://t.co/3Dro38fn” #
Powered by Twitter Tools
Related Articles:
- Atari has Apple pull alleged offending apps from App Store: http://t.co/TtgeAy61 #
- Cult of Mac – How To Delete iCloud Backups On Your iOS Device [iOS Tip] « Cult of Mac http://t.co/0En92HLX Essential info for iOS users! #
- “@TechCrunch: Roku's Streaming Stick Makes Your Dumb TV Much Smarter http://t.co/XUn2HRos by @jordanrcrook”
NOW we're talking! # - Cult of Mac – Google TV Drops x86 In Favor Of ARM Based Hardware, Showing Off Next Gen Device At CES « Cult of Android http://t.co/pAGuxo0y #
- Cult of Mac – QuickWiFi Web App Allows You To Share Your Network Credentials The Easy Way « Cult of Mac http://t.co/y8meEiv4 Good @ times… #
- Kanye West: KANYE WILL BE THE NEXT STEVE JOBS!!! « Cult of Mac http://t.co/18y9GHKx
I'm laughing so hard I'm in tears. Priceless! # - Google Brings iPad Support To Google Translate For iOS http://t.co/UzTmtFED YES!!! I love Translate, glad they're finally mkg it RIGHT!!! #
- Hack a Day – Custom screensaver on the non-touch Kindle 4 http://t.co/VZn6umix #
- Fix the iMessage Bug So You Can Still Get Messages If You Switch to Android from iPhone http://t.co/ivAEFGc4
But who would switch?
# - Learn to #program Quick review of #codeyear the #codeacademy plan to teach you to #code in #javascript w/wkly emails: http://t.co/mC4k3VW6 #
Powered by Twitter Tools
Related Articles:
We’ve debated whether to write about this or not, but we felt the good outweighed our smallish reservations.
CodeYear.com is a site that promotes learning to program. Sign up on their site (click here to do that) and you can commit to learning to program in JavaScript as CodeAcademy delivers the promised lesson-a-week to you via email. As far as we can determine before receiving our first lesson, here are the pros:
- It should help you learn to program a bit
- It’s free
- By receiving a weekly “nudge”, you’ll be less inclined to just put it on the “back burner”
Here are what we see as cons:
- Lesson quality is unproven
- Site seems a bit “wonky” – trying to access the lessons early didn’t work in any browser we’ve tried
- JavaScript may not be the language you’d like to learn programming with
- You may be solicited by CodeAcademy for products – we’ll see
On balance, though, it seems worth checking out if you’ve ever wanted to dip your toe into the programming pool.
We’ll provide updates as we proceed, as our JS skill levels vary and it should be interesting to compare notes and perceptions. Please feel free to jump into the fray by posting a comment below or emailing us! In the meantime, CODE ON!
mk++
Related Articles:
Posted in Programming by .
- RT @Checkmk Why #amazon Can't Compete with #apple #customerservice #broken #kindle #nano #brokenkindle http://t.co/NsOOtxxL #
Powered by Twitter Tools