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Apple Supports 'Hour of Code' Campaign for Students with Free Workshops in U.S. Retail Stores

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Apple today announced that it will be participating in the "Hour of Code" initiative this Wednesday by offering free workshops in its U.S. stores introducing students to computer programming. Apple is setting aside the 5:00-6:00 PM hour at all of its retail stores for its workshops, and reservations are required.

The broader initiative is sponsored by the non-profit Code.org with the backing of a wide variety of political, corporate, and personal supporters. The goal of the campaign is to introduce 10 million students to computer programming, with the ultimate goal of every student learning a basic level of programming.

Learn about the campaign to get students involved in a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anyone can learn the basics of programming. Visit code.org or attend a special Hour of Code workshop at any U.S. Apple Retail Store on December 11, 5 p.m.
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Steve Jobs makes a brief appearance at the 1:47 mark of the promotional video for the event, by way of a 1995 clip from "Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview".


Article Link: Apple Supports 'Hour of Code' Campaign for Students with Free Workshops in U.S. Retail Stores
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/09/apple-supports-hour-of-code-campaign-for-students-with-free-workshops-in-u-s-retail-stores/
Objective-C is a **** language to begin with and even moreso for an introductory class on programming.
 
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I actually did have a class on C++ in high school way back in the last millennium.

My hats off to Apple and the program, but they do teach this stuff in many schools, for a lot longer than an hour, for a lot longer than a few weeks.

This does make me want to support a much larger initiative for a smaller group of kids. Like an in school/after school program for inner-city youth that lasts about three or four months, during the winter months when they can't go out and play soccer.

losthorse said:
I like the idea of everyone learning to code, until I think about it for even a second.

http://www.slate.com/articles/techn...everybody_does_not_need_to_learn_to_code.html

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/05/please-dont-learn-to-code.html
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Great reads, both of them, and I agree. It's much like the "everyone should be a photographer with an expensive DSLR" movement.

Now, we have Instagram and a web full of half naked selfies.
 
Why not in the UK too? :(

Coding in schools is non-existent here, and even at A-level very, very few 6th forms/colleges teach any kind of language. Even HTML is off the table most of the time, in favour of how to type in MS Word/punch numbers into Excel/draw pictures in PowerPoint. Universities teaching CompSci are way out of touch with this, they mostly seem to assume that people know how to code when they get to uni, but that's far from the case. We invented the computer, but we forgot how to program it!
 
Good initiative. Being able to write just a few lines of code in order to solve things (I assume the emphasis will be on problem solving) is an ability everyone should have.
 
My professor just had us do the hour of code section on Khan academy. As a Computer Information Science major I did it in less than 2 minutes, but it was fun watching the other engineering majors have to actually learn how it worked.


It would also help the cause if they helped students learn some TI-BASIC (TI calculator language). In high school, I usually wrote a quick program for a long problem instead of solving it out by hand like the other students. Sometimes I would even make a program that just kept guessing until it got it right.
 
MadDog31 said:
Care to explain why? We'd love to hear the reasoning.
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Absolutely horrible syntax and all but useless outside Apple's environment.
There's a reason CS programs don't use it to teach students, high school kids would hate it even more.

Java and C++ are far better to teach OO principles. And far more useful in the real world.

That's not even diving into the technical aspects of the language, which is beyond the scope of this thread.
 
hansonjohn590 said:
Absolutely horrible syntax and all but useless outside Apple's environment.
There's a reason CS programs don't use it to teach students, high school kids would hate it even more.

Java and C++ are far better to teach OO principles. And far more useful in the real world.

That's not even diving into the technical aspects of the language, which is beyond the scope of this thread.
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I learned FORTRAN in 1959 and have used it ever since. It gives me control! I do what I myself want to do, not what some uber-programmer dishes me up via menus. I gather that fortran is regarded as obsolete so youngsters should learn C.
 
hansonjohn590 said:
Absolutely horrible syntax and all but useless outside Apple's environment.
There's a reason CS programs don't use it to teach students, high school kids would hate it even more.

Java and C++ are far better to teach OO principles. And far more useful in the real world.

That's not even diving into the technical aspects of the language, which is beyond the scope of this thread.
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Isnt Java layer the whole reason Android apps stink so much:)?
 
What's the reasoning behind this campaign? Are there not enough people with these skill sets in the pipeline?

And before they embark on a mission to get people to code, have they looked into the reasons why more people don't code already?
 
hansonjohn590 said:
Absolutely horrible syntax and all but useless outside Apple's environment.
There's a reason CS programs don't use it to teach students, high school kids would hate it even more.

Java and C++ are far better to teach OO principles.
Click to expand...

I would agree, to an extent, on Java. But, C++, really?

If you think Obj C's syntax is "bad", then C++ is much much worse. Learning C++ as your first language would be enough to put anyone off programming forever (and I say this as a C++ programmer). It's the last language you'd want to teach kids!

Languages like Ruby or Python are probably the best for beginners. Simple enough that real, useful programs can be produced quickly and productively. Yet they also do a reasonable job of clearly conveying real OO principles.
 
My son is very interested in learning to code and would enjoy this. I've tried to sign up, but either its already sold out or they haven't posted the reservation yet for my local store.
 
Mr Fusion said:
What's the reasoning behind this campaign? Are there not enough people with these skill sets in the pipeline?
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It's a conspiracy by the tech companies. They want to manipulate the nations schools to produce a glut of qualified coding drones so that overpaid programmers who are nearing retirement age (i.e. ~30) can be fired. Lower salaries = bigger profits! ;)
 
hansonjohn590 said:
Absolutely horrible syntax and all but useless outside Apple's environment.
There's a reason CS programs don't use it to teach students, high school kids would hate it even more.

Java and C++ are far better to teach OO principles. And far more useful in the real world.

That's not even diving into the technical aspects of the language, which is beyond the scope of this thread.
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who said they are starting with obj-c? everyone starts with C/C++ in a terminal i thought. mac os x is an excellent environment to learn. it is second only to linux in my opinion
 
Skika said:
Isnt Java layer the whole reason Android apps stink so much:)?
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Its the entire development environment and core capabilities of Android that suck, not just the programming language. The programming language is not the entire story to learning development, you have to learn the OS frameworks and APIs in order to do anything with the language.
 
I guess all coders must have moved to India, and taken all the coding jobs along with them. :eek:
 
Reason077 said:
I would agree, to an extent, on Java. But, C++, really?

If you think Obj C's syntax is "bad", then C++ is much much worse. Learning C++ as your first language would be enough to put anyone off programming forever (and I say this as a C++ programmer). It's the last language you'd want to teach kids!

Languages like Ruby or Python are probably the best for beginners. Simple enough that real, useful programs can be produced quickly and productively. Yet they also do a reasonable job of clearly conveying real OO principles.
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Eh, my program started with a triplet of C, C++ and Java.

I agree Ruby/Python are perfect for beginners.
 
AtariMac said:
My son is very interested in learning to code and would enjoy this. I've tried to sign up, but either its already sold out or they haven't posted the reservation yet for my local store.
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You need to selecting the Apple stores in India.
 
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