Nobody has said anything about being a professional programmer.
I know how to take pictures, and fairly a lot about exposure, ligthning, lenses, developing (on digital and analog b&w), etc. didn’t learn it to be a photographer.
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Apple's 'App Development With Swift' Curriculum Expanding to Dozens of Community Colleges
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Nobody has said anything about being a professional programmer.
I know how to take pictures, and fairly a lot about exposure, ligthning, lenses, developing (on digital and analog b&w), etc. didn’t learn it to be a photographer.
I think you're both wrong. Math is related to CS but CS is more logic than solving a system of equation and graphs/relations. It's also not really pattern recognition as it's English class. You know how a language has structure, punctuation, syntax and semenatics? Yup CS is focused on that in lowers courses.
And as a CS student that has done apps, solved some algorithms and so on, I don't want everyone to learn how to code. Not only will it not click with everyone (more on that later) i just don't want people to take something they aren't good at just because they can make money. If they have no passion I don't want to have classes/work with them. I already know people like that I don't want more of that.
CS just doesn't click with everyone. I'm tired of this everyone is equal BS that everyone seems to think is true. I can't run a mile in 5 min and a top athlete can't solve a problem through code. I can't compose a sonata and my drawing skills are basic. An artist can't learn 10 programming languages and know when to use them. Etc.
This program looks great for computer literacy and general knowledge education, but seems ill suited for a vocational program except as a starter/sampler. Most companies will not hire (and new hires would struggle and fail) without a ton more coursework and experience in such things as algorithms, networks, reliability, security, testing, and software methodology.
While this training is good in theory, the reality is the mobile app gold rush is over and computer programming is not a long term stable career anymore as we are seeing more and more companies abuse H1Bs to drive down wages and eliminate jobs.
? So you're saying I can write a program in any way I want and the compiler understands it? In computer science the compiler is the reader, you the writer. If you can't talk to the compiler then your SOL.
Edit here's how writing code is like writing a note/letter/book etc.
syntax:
for(i = 0 ; i++)
This makes no sense to the compiler
for(int i = 0 ; i < 3; i++){
Func();
}
This does
Punctuation:
Func - Makes no sense
Func() - ok it's a function but are you done?
Func(); - ok now it's a statement.
Semantics:
For loop iterates a number of times. Using the previously correct for loop we call Func three times.
i is 0. i is less than 3? Yes, run. Increment i
Keep going till i isn't less than 0.
I got bored and I really like showing how close to writing programming really is to people haha
End edit.
I'll give you the pattern recognition since I was thinking something else. Although logic isn't strictly pattern recognition. Logic is A follows B. Patterns are if A follows B and B follows C then A is transcendedly dependent with C.
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To be fair, all the documentation for learning Swift is already available online thus anybody, anywhere in the world, has access to learning about Swift. I completed the only Apple endorsed Swift university subject available in Australia and although the instruction from the uni was helpful, you can obtain just as good resources outside of the system. E.g. Apple iBooks has a good series, Lynda.com has some fantastic videos as do many other educational institutions online.
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As in, not everyone is going to be interested in programming or that programming is not for for some people because of certain intellectual reasons?
I was going to trade school for being an electrician at the same time I was studying on my own for the A+ exam. I'm a pigeon-chested geek, so I'm not anyone's first choice for doing construction, but I worked as an apprentice on sites for 18 months, anyway.
My long term goal was that I liked fixing things, but I suspected that there was more money in fixing computers. It's true that the trades don't get nearly enough respect. Blue collar work is often a bad deal. You pretty only get paid for days you work, almost no vacation and holiday pay, and even with workman's comp, very few blue collar people get to retire on their own terms. Usually only after enough falls from ladders renders them unable to hump it up to the roof any more.
Getting into unions is often pretty tough, too. They do provide better benefits and pay, but they do so by limiting who they let in, and working by seniority. Which means the lowest on the ladder will get the layoff first. Hence, if you are working as an apprentice during a time of a recession when jobs are cut back, for instance, you can find yourself pretty idle. In other words, you can be good at the work, but still find that the union can't always find a place for you.
I've been doing on-line coding this summer, doing bootcamps and whatnot to get my Python up to speed. Well, I can make a mean Blackjack game at this point. But so what? The difference between learning a language and the next step of doing something with it is a big step. It's definitely something not everyone can do. I've focused on doing sysadmin tasks with Bash and Powershell in the past, but even still, transitioning to being a developer is definitely, definitely not for everyone.
My long term goal was that I liked fixing things, but I suspected that there was more money in fixing computers. It's true that the trades don't get nearly enough respect. Blue collar work is often a bad deal. You pretty only get paid for days you work, almost no vacation and holiday pay, and even with workman's comp, very few blue collar people get to retire on their own terms. Usually only after enough falls from ladders renders them unable to hump it up to the roof any more.
Getting into unions is often pretty tough, too. They do provide better benefits and pay, but they do so by limiting who they let in, and working by seniority. Which means the lowest on the ladder will get the layoff first. Hence, if you are working as an apprentice during a time of a recession when jobs are cut back, for instance, you can find yourself pretty idle. In other words, you can be good at the work, but still find that the union can't always find a place for you.
I've been doing on-line coding this summer, doing bootcamps and whatnot to get my Python up to speed. Well, I can make a mean Blackjack game at this point. But so what? The difference between learning a language and the next step of doing something with it is a big step. It's definitely something not everyone can do. I've focused on doing sysadmin tasks with Bash and Powershell in the past, but even still, transitioning to being a developer is definitely, definitely not for everyone.
for a closed ecosystem of devices i.e. only Apple devices.
However, it's still a great step in the right direction to providing computational thinking to the masses!
I have a feeling the students interested in/advised to pursue the traditional trades are NOT being redirected towards coding. I don't watch this closely, but it seems the shortage of skilled tradespeople (and the earnings opportunities that go with a shortage) is recognized by educators.
I think this initiative has more to do with Apple making the world friendlier to Apple than anything else. Even when coders move on to other languages and platforms (which they will), one of their formative experiences will be with Apple, just as with the use of Apple computers and iPads in lower schools.
Meantime, schools with lower budgets/tuition like community colleges get a (presumably) quality course at no cost, that will likely be quite popular with students. The students will be buying Macs (at education discounts). To borrow from that great, Harvard-trained mathematician and songwriter, Tom Lehrer:
Coders have to start by learning something. Arguably, it could be any language at all - the specifics change, but the principles and skills are nearly universal. There may be other languages that offer even better commercial prospects, but Swift isn't likely to be a dead end, either. The principles I learned back in the '70s with Basic still apply today, as I mess around with Swift Playgrounds. I didn't love coding back then, I'm not likely to start coding professionally now, but the skills have been useful throughout my computer-using life, and in analyzing/troubleshooting all sorts of systems beyond the computing world.
Exactly correct. The XCode environment runs on Macs. So the first step to development is "Buy a mac".
This is why Tim Cook likes it.
I agree with starting with Python, especially considering the educational resources available to learn the program based on the success of the Raspberry Pi. However, Python is a scripting language whereas Swift is OOP, thus there are significant computer programming concepts required to make the leap into that side of programming i.e. Polymorphism, Inheritance, Encapsulation etc.
Alternatively, Java would be my next pick considering it's ubiquitousness. (Swift can only run on Apple devices, whereas Java empowers the entire Android market and much more.)
Being a developer is not a glorious job by any means. Its difficult work, long hours and pay scales are pretty rigid anymore. There are no Unions. Also dare I mention, a lot of development work is being offshored or done by H1B Visa holders from other countries.
Its probably better to go to school for business management. Most often, they get to be in charge of things, drive the business and take all the credit. Also they are usually above developers on an org chart.
But...but...but...the robots will do all that soon. We need programmers to ask the robots not to become sentient and kill us all.
A better description for Python is a dynamic general purpose language (like Ruby), and that definition doesn't preclude a language from using an OOP model, in fact, you might want to read up on Python's implementation of OOP concepts like polymorphism and inheritance
My apologies. I have only utilised the scripting functionality of the language alongside Perl and hadn't delved into the OO side of things with it. Cheers for the clarificationA better description for Python is a dynamic general purpose language (like Ruby), and that definition doesn't preclude a language from using an OOP model, in fact, you might want to read up on Python's implementation of OOP concepts like polymorphism and inheritance
There are a lot of holes with these statements.
- Developers as a whole will have more opportunities in finding jobs than business management.
- There is now a remote culture happening in industry where they are allowing developers to work remotely full time.
- Not all people are suited for business management which is the same as not all people are suited for development.
My apologies. I have only utilised the scripting functionality of the language alongside Perl and hadn't delved into the OO side of things with it. Cheers for the clarification
Oh no sweat, it's terribly confusing to be honest, "scripted" isn't analogous to the language model, there are scripting mechanisms that aren't general purpose languages, and general purposes languages that are scripted, and some that are compiled, and some that can be either ... ugh ...
Perl is super fun, that's all we used to use during the dawn of the internet, Perl via CGI, running on Sun boxes. Before that we just stood in front of big black obelisks and tossed bones into the air.
*cue music*
There is nothing wrong with learning. Concepts can be taught. Coding can be taught. The more a person is exposed to different options/paths/opportunities - that person will make up their own mind later of the road they want to go. Sometimes you have to turn back or switch roads but thats just life. No biggie. Giving options to people is a win win for a society. Underestimating people and their possible strengths and pigeonholing them by not giving opportunities (for example to at least try coding) will have society living in a fools paradise.
Sorry to say but the way your talking - it's almost as if you think you wrote the programming languages yourself. Others created those languages remember. The heavy lifting (by the heavy hitters) has already been done. We are just mere mortals using what they created for us.
You don't actually know this. This concept of left right brain is just more of it. Also - if someone learned 10 programming languages I have no doubt they would know there use case.
It's almost like you are actively dissuading. I never understood the logic of an argument against education.
Sad.
Good, getting Swift used in universities is the best way to assure its long-term adoption and growth.
Hopefully sometime soon (maybe around Swift 5) we'll get front-end web implementations, then many components for almost any purpose can be written entirely in Swift, top to bottom.
Hopefully sometime soon (maybe around Swift 5) we'll get front-end web implementations, then many components for almost any purpose can be written entirely in Swift, top to bottom.
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Keep in mind that Swift is a language intended for Apple eco systems. It may not handle the browser event loops and all the other nuances correctly. I think you will still have to transpile Swift to JS in the near future, and native browser support will be slim. For a possible interim solution: http://www.shiftjs.com.