

Should Everyone be a Programmer? - Philter
http://www.philterdesign.com/?p=364

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maeon3
At one point in history it was asked if everyone should learn to read and
write so that they could more easily communicate with people from far away for
the purpose of solving problems with collective action instead of as
individuals or small groups.

The answer to that question was yes. The incorrect answer was. "Reading and
writing is too hard, the scholars in the temple will do the reading and
writing on behalf of the sheep"

Today the question is should the sheep learn to program the computers? The
answer is no, it's too hard, we will do it on their behalf. Imagine a nation
full of capable coders. Woah. Im glad we made reading and writing mandatory in
school.

~~~
Philter
Interesting analogy.

But couldn't that be said of any profession? Everyone should learn to apply
medical procedures or represent themselves in a court of law? Ya it would be
awesome to have a nation full of great doctors. The problem is that each of
these things is a specialization that takes thousands of hours of study and
experience to do well.

Yes, the barrier of entry to programming is much lower, but that doesn't mean
it doesn't require the same amount of time to be a good coder as it does to be
good in other professions.

