tl;dr Learn to program enough to solve 1 simple problem in your real life

Pontifications

  • ideally do this before you finish your formal learning
  • note i didn’t say solve it “well” :-)
  • note i didn’t specify technology (yes today’s software tech is dumb; really do we need to do every piece of code with text? really do we need to re-code algorithms in every new OS and programming language that comes along? really VM/CMS->VMS->Unix->MS-DOS->Windows->Linux->iOS->Android-> whatever OSses are next? really rewrite string libraries and all other libraries in C then C++ then python then java then javascript then ruby then rust then Haskell then Perl then whatever cool languages come next, really rewrite the presentation layer every years? e.g. ember->react-> whatever is next?)
  • note i didn’t say you have to solve more than 1 problem with programming
  • by real, i mean something that is relevant to you not relevant to your teacher or your boss or your partner or your kids
  • Once you’ve done your 1 project, then you can stand down and proceed with the rest of your life long learning :-) and know what’s possible and have an appreciation for what’s not possible in software and not make silly statements like “i can’t code” (that’s like saying you can’t cook; yes you can cook!). yes you can ! maybe not well but enough to do something real! and it’s truly possible! but you don’t have to do it forever and it doesn’t have to be the focus of your life!

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