Why Johnny can't code

[Cormac]

What's a good example of a bad programming book and what makes it bad?

I don't know. I just know that I am for good things and against bad things, as a general principle.

How would you feel about a good book on bad programming?

Syntax error at line 30

[klr]

What's a good example of a bad programming book and what makes it bad?

I don't know. I just know that I am for good things and against bad things, as a general principle.

How would you feel about a good book on bad programming?

Syntax error at line 30

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/scrapbook ... mming.aspx

http://www.badprogramming.com/

"Abandon hope. all ye who enter here"

[Clinton Huxley]

10 Print "KLR Smells"
20 GOTO 10

Ah, those were the days. The fun one could have with the Dragon 32s, Spectrums, Amstrads and Commodore 64s lined up in Boots....

[Cormac]

10 Print "KLR Smells"
20 GOTO 10

Ah, those were the days. The fun one could have with the Dragon 32s, Spectrums, Amstrads and Commodore 64s lined up in Boots....

Don't forget the humble Vic 20.

[Clinton Huxley]

10 Print "KLR Smells"
20 GOTO 10

Ah, those were the days. The fun one could have with the Dragon 32s, Spectrums, Amstrads and Commodore 64s lined up in Boots....

Don't forget the humble Vic 20.

I think it would have been the Vic lined up against the Dragon 32s, rather than the commode 64.

[Pappa]

Interesting changes planned to the curriculum in England:

School ICT to be replaced by computer science programme
By Judith Burns Education reporter, BBC News

The current programme of information and communications technology (ICT) study in England's schools will be scrapped from September, the education secretary has announced.

It will be replaced by an "open source" curriculum in computer science and programming designed with the help of universities and industry.

Michael Gove called the current ICT curriculum "harmful and dull".

He will begin a consultation next week on the new computing curriculum.

He said this would create young people "able to work at the forefront of technological change".

Speaking at the BETT show for educational technology in London, Mr Gove announced plans to free up schools to use curricula and teaching resources that properly equip pupils for the 21st Century.

He said that resources, developed by experts, were already available online to help schools teach computer science and he wants universities and businesses to devise new courses and exams, particularly a new computing GCSE.

The education secretary said the inadequate grounding in computing offered by the current curriculum was in danger of damaging Britain's economic prospects.

He called for a revival of the legacy of British computer pioneer Alan Turing whose work in the 1930s laid the foundation of the modern computing industry.

"Imagine the dramatic change which could be possible in just a few years, once we remove the roadblock of the existing ICT curriculum.

"Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word or Excel by bored teachers, we could have 11-year-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations," he said.

Computer games entrepreneur Ian Livingstone, an adviser to Mr Gove, envisages a new curriculum that could have 16-year-olds creating their own apps for smartphones and 18-year-olds able to write their own simple programming language.

'Slaves to the interface'

Mr Livingstone, co-author of last year's Next Gen report which highlighted the poor quality of computer teaching in schools, told BBC news: "The current lessons are essentially irrelevant to today's generation of children who can learn PowerPoint in a week."

"It's a travesty given our heritage as the most creative nation in the world.

"Children are being forced to learn how to use applications, rather than to make them. They are becoming slaves to the user interface and are totally bored by it," he said.

Other experts voiced concerns about a shortage of teachers qualified to deliver the new curriculum.

Bill Mitchell, of British Computing Society, said: "It is tremendous that Michael Gove is personally endorsing the importance of teaching computer science in schools.

"There are, of course, significant challenges to overcome, specifically with the immediate shortage of computer science teachers."

While Prof Steve Furber, chairman of an imminent Royal Society report on computing in schools, said non-specialist teachers might find the plethora of alternative teaching resources confusing.

"We look forward to hearing more about how the government intends to support non-specialist teachers who make up the majority of the workforce in delivering an excellent ICT education without official guidance on lesson content," he said.

Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg MP said: "It is right to identify that the ICT curriculum needs to be reformed to fit with the times.

"That's why Labour said last year that pupils need to understand the mechanisms and coding behind computer programmes - not just learning how to use a word processor, enter data into a worksheet or design a power-point presentation.

"As well as updating programmes of study, we need better teacher training, higher standards and continual assessment of what pupils are being taught."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16493929

From what I understand, Wales seems to be moving in the opposite direction, where ICT lessons will be about Google/Facebook/etc.

[Clinton Huxley]

I signed up with CodeAcademy the other day.

Those coding muscles are condiserably atrophied.....

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Detect end of scanning cycle.
Confirm scan is acceptable and pages are in proper order.
Open scanner cover.
Remove Page 1.
Displace Page 2.
Rename Page 2 "Page 1"
Select Page 2 from source stack.
Place Page 2 on scanner glass in proper position.
Adjust Page 1 to adjoin Page 2 in scanning area.
Close scanner cover.
Start scanning cycle.
Repeat until source stack pages = 0.

[Clinton Huxley]

x(1)="Now look here!";
x(2)="Damn your eyes!";
x(3)="Bloody Frenchies";
x(4)="I love Xmas!";
x(5)="In the grim South";
x(6)="Damned crazy Merkins";

z=int(rnd,3)+1)

Do i=1 to z
y=int((rnd,6)+1)
Comment=x(y)
Submit comment;
end;




This is pretty much how I work. AI needn't be complicated..

[Gawdzilla Sama]

This is pretty much how I work. AI needn't be complicated..

Especially if one ignores the "I" part.

[Clinton Huxley]

This is pretty much how I work. AI needn't be complicated..

Especially if one ignores the "I" part.

In my case, the I stands for ineptitude....

[Gawdzilla Sama]

This is pretty much how I work. AI needn't be complicated..

Especially if one ignores the "I" part.

In my case, the I stands for ineptitude....

You should go public then.

[klr]

"Michael Gove" suggests something sensible shock!

Seriously: I think this is a rather good idea.

...

From what I understand, Wales seems to be moving in the opposite direction, where ICT lessons will be about Google/Facebook/etc.

... and I think this is a bad idea. While youngsters need to be educated about the generalities of life on the internet (esp. re privacy, etc.), they don't need formal learning for it. And especially not for systems/applications that develop at such a rapid pace. It's just more of educating children to be users of technology, and at a fairly basic level.

[Pappa]

"Michael Gove" suggests something sensible shock!

Seriously: I think this is a rather good idea.

Yeah, quite a surprise.

From what I understand, Wales seems to be moving in the opposite direction, where ICT lessons will be about Google/Facebook/etc.

... and I think this is a bad idea. While youngsters need to be educated about the generalities of life on the internet (esp. re privacy, etc.), they don't need formal learning for it. And especially not for systems/applications that develop at such a rapid pace. It's just more of educating children to be users of technology, and at a fairly basic level.

Before this thread, I would have agreed, but I think a middle ground is a better option. Yes, it's important that kids are given opportunity to get the bug for programming, but in-depth computing classes would likely be inappropriate for most kids, whereas a good grounding in general computer use would be far more practical. Ideally, giving all kids a good understanding of computers (not FB and Google, but the kind of software they're likely to need to use as adults), and then making programming available for those who are interested. I'm not sure how that could/would fit with our current prescriptive curricula though.

[Tyrannical]

Self modifying machine language; now that sucks