As someone who has been programming for over 40 years, it really pisses me off when people say that everyone should learn programming and get into IT. IT is both a skilled profession and a calling. People who don't have the calling, but they'll probably never be much more than average to mediocre. I can visualize database table structures with relationships in my head because I've been living, eating, breathing database for over 30 years and I love this stuff. If you walk in to this cold and think you can do what I can do, you're going to find out how steep the learning curve is and you'll get mocked on Computerworld's Shark Tank pages, among other places.
I taught multiple class of HTML to a room full of secretaries and junior managers across the spectrum of city departments to teach them basic web coding skills as my boss wanted them to maintain their individual department's subsection of the city web page. It was a big CMS monstrosity, so I did it, got rave reviews for my skills, and they all passed the test. But I only taught the first stage. The guy who managed the CMS system taught the second level, I have no idea how they did at that stage! Pretty much anyone can learn basic HTML if they want to, but that's such a rudimentary level of programming that it pretty much isn't: no loops, no file I/O, no branching, no comparative operators, no calculations.
No, it seriously pisses me off when politicians talk about anyone getting jobs in programming. If it's that easy, then anyone should be able to get elected to office. And when I look at the idiots IN OFFICE, I think my point is proved.
The coal miners DO need jobs, and DO need re-training, and IT may be PART of the answer. But it is not the exclusive answer. It has to be multi-track. Alternative energy installation is also going to be PART of the answer, and another part is that a lot of them may have to move out of their area for employment. And that's not going to be popular, but let's face it, that area is destitute and it's going to be a long time before it recovers because other industry is going to have to move in and bring follow-in support with it before the area economies improve.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2020-02-04 07:46 pm (UTC)As someone who has been programming for over 40 years, it really pisses me off when people say that everyone should learn programming and get into IT. IT is both a skilled profession and a calling. People who don't have the calling, but they'll probably never be much more than average to mediocre. I can visualize database table structures with relationships in my head because I've been living, eating, breathing database for over 30 years and I love this stuff. If you walk in to this cold and think you can do what I can do, you're going to find out how steep the learning curve is and you'll get mocked on Computerworld's Shark Tank pages, among other places.
I taught multiple class of HTML to a room full of secretaries and junior managers across the spectrum of city departments to teach them basic web coding skills as my boss wanted them to maintain their individual department's subsection of the city web page. It was a big CMS monstrosity, so I did it, got rave reviews for my skills, and they all passed the test. But I only taught the first stage. The guy who managed the CMS system taught the second level, I have no idea how they did at that stage! Pretty much anyone can learn basic HTML if they want to, but that's such a rudimentary level of programming that it pretty much isn't: no loops, no file I/O, no branching, no comparative operators, no calculations. No, it seriously pisses me off when politicians talk about anyone getting jobs in programming. If it's that easy, then anyone should be able to get elected to office. And when I look at the idiots IN OFFICE, I think my point is proved. The coal miners DO need jobs, and DO need re-training, and IT may be PART of the answer. But it is not the exclusive answer. It has to be multi-track. Alternative energy installation is also going to be PART of the answer, and another part is that a lot of them may have to move out of their area for employment. And that's not going to be popular, but let's face it, that area is destitute and it's going to be a long time before it recovers because other industry is going to have to move in and bring follow-in support with it before the area economies improve.