[Edu-sig] Programming for the fun of it

[Carol Marshall]

Very well put Danny.



On Mon, 11 Dec 2000, Daniel Yoo wrote:

> 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*)
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Edu-sig mailing list
> Edu-sig@python.org
> http://www.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
>