
Even Non-Techies Aim to Learn the Internet’s Language - branola
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/technology/for-an-edge-on-the-internet-computer-code-gains-a-following.html?_r=1&hpw=&pagewanted=all
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GavinAnderegg

      Parlez-vous Python? What about Rails or JavaScript? 
    

It seems interesting to me that Rails (rather than Ruby) is often listed as a
language in popular publications. I guess the framework is more highly
promoted than the language it's written in. Are there any other examples of
cases like this in popular or "near-geek" culture?

~~~
dpearson
While not a framework per se, .NET is often termed a "language."

~~~
mmj48
.NET isn't a framework?

~~~
prophetjohn
Seems like ".NET" encompasses more than just a framework, but there is
definitely something called "The .NET Framework." [1][2]

[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Framework>

[2]<http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=17851>

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droithomme
I am happy to hear that one can be a developer and understand TCP/IP and not
be a "techie" since the dimunitive nounized form of tech, "techie", always has
a condescending air about its use. Likewise "coder" and often even "geek".
When my partner stays up all night reading wikipedia I can humorously say
"Looks like you had a major geek-out session." This is taken in a very
different sense than when a touring MBA says "So is this the cage where you
keep the geeks?"

~~~
EvanKelly
That last bit struck a nerve to me. I think the dichotomy between "suits" and
"geeks" really hurts a lot of companies.

A former boss loved mentioning things his "engineers" have accomplished when
he's on teleconferences, but when he's upset at something done at the
technical level, he refers to them as the "geek squad".

I see the same thing when I'm surrounded by the engineers. They all refer to
management as "the suits" and speak condescendingly of non-engineering work.

This difference seems like it's transcended a bit in startup culture, which is
one of the most attractive parts of it to me.

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dpearson
Aside from the cheesy opening line, it is nice to see an author that does a
decent job writing to a nontechnical audience (as well as one who provides
examples of the value of programming to readers). With increasing publicity,
it will be interesting to see if more people actually sign up for and complete
online courses (from sites like Codecademy).

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cageface
Smells like another bubble in the making to me. Investment money has nowhere
else to go but startups and Joe blow is learning html again because he thinks
its going to be easy money. Feels a lot like the early reports of people
lining up around the block for Manhattan condos in 2006.

~~~
geoffschmidt
No, this is just capitalism at work, and it's normal. Demand exceeds supply
for software engineers, because humans need more software than ever before.
Unemployment is high. Unemployed workers in other industries want to retrain
as software engineers. This is exactly what's "supposed" to happen when
workers are displaced from one industry.

You seem to be trying to imply that companies are hiring unqualified workers.
I don't see any evidence of that -- do you?

~~~
cageface
Demand only exceeds supply because too many people think they're going to make
a quick buck with their new social recipe sharing startup. I strongly suspect
the supply of those kinds of services currently far outstrips real demand.

~~~
geoffschmidt
The demand from what you dismissively call "social recipe sharing startups" is
an insignificant fraction of the demand for software engineers. Techcrunch is
not a good proxy for the job market.

How many people do you think are actually getting paid to write social recipe
sharing software? Maybe 1000? There are ~1.5 million software engineers in the
US alone. Even if you think that there are 10000, that's still less that 1% of
all positions.

<http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos303.htm>

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ilaksh
How soon before this trend starts to wind down?

How long before computer programming skills become as everyday as basic
vehicle repair knowledge?

I guess its not really the same thing, because computer programs aren't as
homogeneous as car guts (although I wouldn't really know) and cars aren't
being engineered in repair shops. But if you look at common frameworks like
Rails or plain HTML or WordPress then you could almost think of those areas as
being like their own mechanical specialties.

Point being there are a lot of relatively high-tech devices that we maintain
where those careers aren't considered particularly prestigious, and I wonder
if at some point software development will be a little more like that.

I mean in the first few decades of the development of motor vehicles (I know,
computer programs aren't combustion engines, they are much more varied and
complex than that) there was a lot of invention and innovation and those
people were probably considered to have fairly elite skills and knowledge.

~~~
unimpressive
There are certainly people who predict that this will happen. (Example:
[http://www.whattofix.com/blog/archives/2012/01/programming-i...](http://www.whattofix.com/blog/archives/2012/01/programming-
is-1.php))

Ironically enough one of my goals is to _cause this to happen._ Which while
sounding like some sort of betrayal, is really an enrichment of human
creativity. Concentrating the heart of what defines the 21st century into a
sort of weakly protected oligarchy makes me feel nervous about the future. The
thing about cars is that they represent a different revolution, one which
doesn't necessarily require people to join in on what would probably be called
"hacking" if the equivalent tasks were done on a computer to have their full
effect.

Part of the power of the home computer and electronics revolutions is that the
programmability of the computer is _itself a medium._ A largely underutilized
medium that has more potential than most others. To have this medium
marginalized by a widespread belief that it's beyond peoples capability is
really...depressing.

~~~
ilaksh
That's kind of one of my goals too. I am thinking about composable widgets for
web applications.

How do you plan to make programming easier (or whatever it is your goal is
exactly)?

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mikeriess
As a non-technical learning to program on my personal time, I think this
article captures the rise of programming tutorials accurately, and hints at
the greater trend of the internet enabling a new kind of renaissance person
that can know a little bit about a lot- at least enough to know "how these
languages function within the internet". That being said, I don't think
codecademy, at least as it's currently developing, is enough to turn the
layperson into a programmer.

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kijin
I'm not sure if the world would really be a better place if more people
learned JavaScript, but I do hope that at least some of the alleged "surge"
goes towards learning about basic rules of security on the Internet. Like,
"Don't click Yes on that thing unless you're sure what you're saying Yes to."

In fact, I'd much rather not share the world with people who know how to write
JavaScript but not basic rules of security. They are so much more dangerous
than people who know neither!

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dcalhoun
Sad to see San Francisco's own Dev Bootcamp not mentioned here:
devbootcamp.com (and my own writing about my experiences with the program
douglascalhoun.tumblr.com). By the way, our hiring day is Friday, it's not too
late to tell your founder/ recruiter friends: devbootcamp-
spring2012.eventbrite.com

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SpiderX
I don't see this as a trend, people who want to know how to program will
learn. It's the same as if cars were just invented 30 years ago and people
start learning how to work on cars. The auto mechanic didn't go out of
business, in fact I think he got more work as people realized that they don't
need to go out and buy a new car every time their old one is broken, they can
hire someone to fix it.

