Mary-Ann Russon, a BBC technology of business reporter recently asked: “What can we do to get more women into coding?” My answer is “lots”, but if you work in the tech industry, you might not want to hear it.
I’ve been programming and teaching it most of my life. The demands of conceptualizing problems, finding solutions, crafting symbols a computer can execute, then testing and making that usable by another human are generally underestimated. What we call “coding” is one somewhat overrated part of a larger skillset that takes 10 to 20 years to master.
The highest attainment is purpose, not just knowing what you’re doing but why you’re doing it. Sadly, the word “hacker”, once preferred by internet founders, is damaged by misuse. Its friendlier replacement “coding” omits the playful, curious, creative, interpersonal and moral aspects of our work, and so obscures a grander socio-political reality.
So what is coding? Is it science? Engineering? As a computer scientist and electronic engineer with deep roots in physics and math, I can assure you it’s really neither. But don’t take my word for it. Revered computer scientist Donald Knuth titled his lifelong work, an impeccable grimoire of algorithms before which all mortal computer scientists bow, The Art of Computer Programming – note the word “art”. Meanwhile, two of the greatest instructors of code, Hal Abelson and Gerald Sussman, tell us that programming is a form of “creative magic”.
Continue reading: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/how-do-we-get-more-women-coding-fix-how-its-taught-and-used
I’ve been programming and teaching it most of my life. The demands of conceptualizing problems, finding solutions, crafting symbols a computer can execute, then testing and making that usable by another human are generally underestimated. What we call “coding” is one somewhat overrated part of a larger skillset that takes 10 to 20 years to master.
The highest attainment is purpose, not just knowing what you’re doing but why you’re doing it. Sadly, the word “hacker”, once preferred by internet founders, is damaged by misuse. Its friendlier replacement “coding” omits the playful, curious, creative, interpersonal and moral aspects of our work, and so obscures a grander socio-political reality.
So what is coding? Is it science? Engineering? As a computer scientist and electronic engineer with deep roots in physics and math, I can assure you it’s really neither. But don’t take my word for it. Revered computer scientist Donald Knuth titled his lifelong work, an impeccable grimoire of algorithms before which all mortal computer scientists bow, The Art of Computer Programming – note the word “art”. Meanwhile, two of the greatest instructors of code, Hal Abelson and Gerald Sussman, tell us that programming is a form of “creative magic”.
Continue reading: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/how-do-we-get-more-women-coding-fix-how-its-taught-and-used
