TITLE: "You can code.  That is pretty damn cool."
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: June 27, 2011  5:03 PM
DESC: 
-----
BODY:
I've been off-line a lot lately, doing physical therapy for
my knee and traveling a bit.  That means I have a lot of
fun reading to catch up on!  One page that made the rounds
recently is
<A HREF="http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/advice.html">
   Advice From An Old Programmer</A>,
from Zed Shaw's intro book,
<A HREF="http://learnpythonthehardway.org/">
   Learn Python The Hard Way</A>.
Shaw has always been a thoughtful developer and an
entertaining writer with a unique take on programming.  Now
he has put his money where his mouth is with a book that
aims to teach programming in a style he thinks most effective
for learners.

I look forward to digging into the book soon, but for now
his advice page has piqued a lot of interest.  For
example:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
Programming as a profession is only moderately interesting.
It can be a good job, but you could make about the same money
and be happier running a fast food joint.  You're much better
off using code as your secret weapon in another profession.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

As a matter of personal opinion, I disagree with the first
sentence, and could never make the switch discussed in the
second.  But I do think that the idea of programming as a
secret weapon in other professions has a lot to offer people
who would never want to be computer scientists or full-time
software developers.  It's a
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2010-01.html#e2010-01-13T19_18_10.htm">
   powerful tool</A>
that frees you from
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2010-12.html#e2010-12-01T15_45_40.htm">
   wishing you have a programmer around</A>.
It changes how you can think about problems in your discipline
and lets you
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2007-12.html#e2007-12-13T14_47_27.htm">
   ask new questions</A>.

Finally, Shaw tells his readers not too worry when non-programmers
treat them badly because they are now nerds who can program.  He
gives good reasons why you shouldn't care about such taunts, and
then sums it up in a Zed Shaw-like killer closing line:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
You can code.  They cannot.  That is pretty damn cool.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

Amen.
-----