

"Learning How to Code is a Waste of Time" - readme
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tarabrown/2012/01/10/learning-how-to-code-is-a-waste-of-time/

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n3rdy
Is this going to be some new trend to discourage people from learning to code?

Its so strange to see one specific skill being targeted.

Even stranger: [http://www.forbes.com/sites/venkateshrao/2011/12/05/the-
rise...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/venkateshrao/2011/12/05/the-rise-of-
developeronomics/)

In this article Forbes talks about how programmers are basically the safest
and smartest investment an entrepreneur can make, but now they are saying that
investing the time to learn to program yourself is a waste of time?

I could understand if the headline and tone of the article was something like
"could learning to program compliment your current skills?", but right off the
bat they are attacking the idea of acquiring a new skill.

Does anyone really come out worse off if they miss a season of American Idol
to learn programming instead?

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maxerickson
Much of the content on Forbes is just blog salad, there does not seem to be a
great deal of editorial oversight of the content.

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stephengillie
The author is basically saying that having a good reason for learning
something means you're much more likely to complete your course of study.

 _My guess is that less than half the people who signed up for Codecademy’s
Code Year challenge will finish, it will be closer to 10-15%. I’m not being
harsh, I’m being realistic. Most of the people that signed up don’t really
know why they are learning to code, they just think it’s a good idea. Jumping
right into learning JavaScript, the ‘beginner-friendly’ language without first
knowing why you want to learn it, seems like a recipe for abandonment._

She's just presenting the message from a very pessimistic vantage.

Edit: She not he....

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danarbaugh
The author is female.

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jrockway
Can we just ban forbes.com here? I'm getting very tired of their poorly-
written linkbait blog posts with a huge interstitial ad after every click.

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nashequilibrium
The World As An API ------ Writing was not considered important for the
average person back in the day. You could get a job on the farm or some kind
of manufacturing job and it was therefore not a necessity to survive in the
real world. It was still valued but it was something for the rich. As time
moved on and technology changed, so did work requirements, as the economy grew
from substance and agricultural based to industrial and then to services
based, the type of skills also moved from manual labor to more intellectual
labor. The economy is changing again, becoming more information technology
based, also with the internet of things increasing, our homes will become more
tech based. We will move to a future where everything has an API, from your
washing machine to your nike's and to be able to make small customization's,
you will need basic programming skills. Basic Programming is the new Writing
and Reading. My kids will learn basic programming whether they like to or not.

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mehdim
Learning is never a waste of time. If it is not valuable for your work and
your goal , you will not go as far as masterize it and stop it. So not loosing
so much time but just opened your mind to other way to think. Either a foreign
language, a book, a programming language...

To answer the article, learning what will not be our everyday job is called
"curiosity, knowledge and culture"

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mattupstate
People like this confuse the positive encouragement of the general public with
their own needs. The recent code.org campaign is simply a campaign that is
trying to encourage young kids and schools to pony up because there are tons
of jobs going unfilled and they will continue to go unfilled if the education
system doesn't catch up.

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arindone
Misleading title -- the point is that having an item on your to-do list
'learning how to code' is not as useful as something more specific, say 'learn
javascript to start work on my own blogging platform' ... essentially it's an
article on better goal creation/identification

