[Edu-sig] Programming for the fun of it

[Daniel Yoo]

On Mon, 11 Dec 2000, Dethe Elza wrote:

> So, I've been working for awhile on the how of teaching programming to 
> non-geeks.  What I think is a more important question, is Why?  Why 
> should someone be interested in learning to program?  I'm not talking 
> about convincing them to give up their day job, or learn higher math, 
> just to have an interest in occasional programming.  Here's my first cut 
> at some possible motivations, but I'm very interested in finding more:


G.H. Hardy's book, "A Mathematician's Apology", covers some of the issues
of teaching abstract concepts.  Why do people do crossword problems?  
Crossword problems surely don't have any direct application, yet people
derive satisfaction from solving a puzzle.  Hardy says that people do
mathematics, not because it's practical, but because it's beautiful ---
that's his primary justification for mathematics.

Likewise, I think people program, not only because it's useful, but
because it's intellectually stimulating; there's something wonderfully
_neat_ about seeing these processes run under our fingertips.  All these
other perks: improving one's employability, gaining problem solving
skills, are all secondary to the idea that programming is fun.  (At least,
ideally... *grin*)