I'm not convinced that absolutely *anyone* can learn to be a
professional X (whatever X is). I think there are some who are really
just wired to do other things. But I am confident that there are
varying degrees to which inherent aptitude plays a role, and
similarly varying degrees to which effective learning experiences
contribute to facilitate those individuals who can, in fact, be
successful at profession X.
As evidence, I offer the following non-empirical anecdote. I started
programming in 1973, when I was 13 years old. Our high school had a
timesharing account on a mainframe at the University of Northern
Iowa, and a DecWriter with a suction cup modem and a rotary phone
with a dedicated line to the university. About a half dozen of us
math geeks gathered daily in a room to play with the computer (which
largely consisted of playing Dungeons and Dragons and Star Trek, with
intermittent fits of attempted software design and code
construction). Several of my friends just seemed to have the knack
right out of the chute. We'd dumpster dive at the university for
discarded manuals, and that was all Brian and Doug needed to build
software. I tried desperately but couldn't get it beyond a
fundamental level. The other guys were more or less like me, in love
with the technology, but not fluent with the incantations.
Years later, in my second semester at the University of Iowa, I had a
really well constructed and well presented Computer Science class
that focused primarily on design. During that semester, the light
came on, and I got it! From that semester it was simply a matter of
learning new skills and piling them onto the foundation I had now
acquired. I had a very successful professional career building
software (HP, Novell, various small companies and consulting gigs),
picked a few graduate degrees along the way, and then retired to the
university to stop producing and begin pontificating. :)
As an epilogue, of the group of math geeks that gathered together
daily in high school to play with the DecWriter, all but one of us
acquired degrees in Computer Science, with the other one (Brian)
doing Electrical Engineering.
My personal experience is that I was always fascinated, I was
obviously capable, but I needed someone to throw the switch for me to
understand how to become self-sustaining after that. I believe there
is a taxonomy of four types of people, relative to professional
software construction: 1) Those born to code, who need almost no
coaching; 2) Those born capable but in need of training in order to
be successful; 3) Those not really born to it, but who can be trained
sufficiently to make a living; 4) Those whose brains are really not
wired to build software at all.
Just my two cents. Your mileage may vary.
Chuck
--------------------------------------------------------------
Charles D. Knutson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Computer Science Dept.
Brigham Young University
www.charlesknutson.net
On Jul 3, 2007, at 6:18 AM, Nick Flor wrote:
Ah, brings back memories.
The concepts you're referring to are "neural plasticity" and
"critical periods." The studies I'm familiar with focus on
learning (human) languages. Supposedly, past a certain age you
can learn a language, but you'll never pick up all the little
nuances that the natives have.
For the record, I believe anyone can learn to program at a
professional level. The question is, are they willing to put in
the time to acquire all the chunks needed to be an expert?
Unfortunately, we can't force our students to put in the time.
Just my opinion,
- Nick
________________________________
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of ok
Sent: Mon 7/2/2007 10:01 PM
To: discuss@ppig.org
Subject: Re: PPIG discuss: Programmer education argument-starter of
the week
On 3 Jul 2007, at 3:20 am, Lindsay Marshall wrote:
So I would be, frankly, astonished if it could be shown that
*everyone* is equally trainable in programming to a
professional standard, any more than it could be shown that
everyone could learn to be a professional golfer or a
professional artist or a professional mathematician or a
professional teacher.
Actually I think that most people could be trained to these levels or
pretty close to them with sufficient effort.
...
The neurologist made the point that some things take a LOT of practice
and if you start too late you will NEVER be much good at it. You
cannot
expect a professional baseballer to also play tennis to professional
level (although he would of course beat a rabbit like me every time).
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