[Off Topic] Re: Programming question-Please help

From: "[Tariz] The Dungeon Master" <adnd@mailandnews.com>

Date: Sun, 06 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Hi,

Tim Lomas <tim@antsnest.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:gvznagfarfgqrzbapbhx.fcxojo0.pminews@news.demon.co.uk...

> This is the sort of tosh that programmers have been bandying around
> for years.

Hmmm. Of course, everyone else in the world is wrong and you are right.  I
bow to your superior wisdom.

> Most people can learn the fundamentals of programming in a couple
> of weeks and it takes nowhere near 10 years to become a good programmer.
>
<snip>

The industry is full of people with this sort of attitude. "Yeah, I read
this book on how to be a Visual Basic God in Five Days therefore I am a true
professional programmer!".  Others would disagree stating that any
profession takes a number of years to learn and there is more to programming
than just knowing how to form grammatically correct code.

IMO Programming requires an understanding of computer architecture, logic,
set theory and algorithms amongst other skills.  To program efficiently and
proficiently in a manner that is both logical and maintainable are skills
that take time to develop.  There is also a lot of reading to be done which
takes time unless you have a photographic memory.

If, however, your vision of "programming" is to write a few useful scripts
or a VB program without understanding much beyond the environment placed by
your development tool then perhaps all you need are a few months.

> Obviously you get better with more practise but the idea that programming
> is some sort of black magic died years ago.

I was not suggesting programming was any sort of mystical art (I wouldn't
demean it so).  However, what I was offering was a viewpoint that like any
profession it will take time to develop the skills required to produce
programs of a professional standard.  What is wonderful about programming is
that you can produce meaningful results in a short period.

If you go into programming thinking that you can take shortcuts across the
learning experience then I think you will find yourself disappointed.  The t
ime period is neither here nor there but ten years seems a reasonable period
if you include about 4-6 years academic study plus around 3 years commercial
experience for the majority.  I learnt to program in BASIC after a day with
a Spectrum and a manual when I was twelve but did that make me a
professional programmer? I think not.

--
Cheers,

Seyed
Dungeon Master
Ascension at Tariz
adnd@mailandnews.com
http://strata.kmpinternet.com/adnd/

References

Programming question-Please help
Sam Palmer <Sam@Bitton.homeway.demon.co.uk>
Fri, 04 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Programming question-Please help
"[Tariz] The Dungeon Master" <adnd@mailandnews.com>
Sat, 05 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Programming question-Please help
"Tim Lomas" <tim@antsnest.demon.co.uk>
Sun, 06 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Programming question-Please help
Sam Palmer <Sam@Bitton.homeway.demon.co.uk>
Fri, 04 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Programming question-Please help
"[Tariz] The Dungeon Master" <adnd@mailandnews.com>
Sat, 05 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Programming question-Please help
"Tim Lomas" <tim@antsnest.demon.co.uk>
Sun, 06 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0000