
Please don’t learn to code - tdurden
http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/10/please-dont-learn-to-code/
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jlg23
This article reads like an amateur-gardener complaining about how hard it is
to grow orchids.

> Selling coding as a ticket to economic salvation for the masses is
> dishonest.

Most of the articles I've read and discussions I've had about "learn to code"
emphasized that the goal is not to become an engineer but simply to develop
algorithmic thinking in order to have a basic understanding how a lot of
things work in a computerized world.

> It took me more than a year of self-taught study before I got a freelance
> gig.

Either the OP is a genius or delusional. I had the privilege to learn from
some very, very good engineers and all of them felt not being worth a salary
for the first _decade_. It took me 15 years to refuse low-paid jobs because I
was confident enough to say "My time is worth more than that."

> Do they keep coding in what is quickly becoming the language of lesser
> choice, or do they start again? If you’re a young twenty-something, this may
> pose little difficulty, but if you’re taking care of a family — with bills
> to pay and mouths to feed — the task becomes Herculean. [Yes, I am quoting
> out of order here].

And if you really understand what you are doing - i.e. you really are an
engineer - then it's merely reading and meditating on specs for a week or two
and a few more weeks of retraining muscle memory.

