

Programming is hard work. Google App Inventor can't change that. - technologizer
http://technologizer.com/2010/08/13/resolved-programming-is-hard-work/

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Niten
App Inventor essentially fills the same niche as OS X's Automator: No, it
doesn't make real programming easier. But there are plenty kinds of
applications that honestly don't require what we'd consider real programming
to implement, and this lowers the barrier to making them.

And it may even be a great gateway drug to real programming. App Inventor
looks a lot like MIT's Scratch, which I used to teach some fifth graders
simple programming constructs last school year. As much as they enjoyed that,
I think they'd love using the same building-block type program construction to
make something for their phones (yes, apparently fifth graders have
smartphones these days).

> Like David says, it’s still programming even if you’re dragging around
> blocks rather than hammering out code.

Yes, but it's _easier_ programming (you don't have to both learn the semantics
and remember exactly what syntax to use at the same time), which makes it a
wonderful way to start.

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Qz
_that aims to let normal non-gearheads write applications for Android phones
with no programming knowledge_

This is a misunderstanding. You need programming knowledge to make programs.
App Inventor takes out/simplifies the _coding_ requirement. If you want to
make Tetris with App Inventor, you still need to know (or learn along the way)
how to _program_.

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sp332
It's "making easy things easy, and hard things possible." That's what a
friendly platform does well.

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zb
Any time a product is hyped as divorcing ends from means, you know it can be
safely ignored.

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yanw
It's not meant to.

