Drew Wutka
DWUTKA at marlow.com
Thu Jun 12 11:22:23 CDT 2003
It's a by product of 'standing on the shoulders of giants'. When I develop in VB, I constantly think I am standing on the shoulders of giants. For example, to get a line of text into the clipboard, I simply use Clipboard.SetText "My string value". Now, if you look at all of the processes actually involved, it's mind boggling. First, you are moving information into memory, which is a lot of fun, then the entire principle of the clipboard itself, which is an OS function. I find it hard to classify myself as a 'professional' programmer. I am really only good at VB (and VBA), I know an inkling of C++, but that's about it. (Well, I did program in DOS basic when I was a kid...and Apple basic for that matter....). However, I have been using computers since I was 5, and I never like to learn from a set of instructions. If I don't know how something works, then I dig until I find out. The problem is, since computers are becoming more and more complex, the interfaces are actually taking on a lot of the burden in interacting with everything. As a VB programmer, I don't need to know how the TCP/IP protocol stack converts information into data packets, or how it translates information coming in. It just 'works'. Because things are working at a 'higher' level, due to the giants that programmed in the past, a lot of new generation 'programmers' can get away with not understanding lower level fundamentals. The catch, of course, is when an anomaly occurs, that the new 'advanced' interfaces don't know what to do, or give false information about. If you are lacking in the fundamentals, it is a LOT more difficult to find out what is wrong. Just my two cents. Drew -----Original Message----- From: Wortz, Charles [mailto:CWortz at tea.state.tx.us] Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 8:15 AM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: the "Education" system Tina, Just look at the number of questions on this list about how computers handle numbers shows you the dismal state of our educational system. How did some of these people get a job programming computers if their basic understanding of how computers work is so lacking? Now I am not knocking those on this list that started out as an office worker that took the initiative to start developing some software tools for the office to use and do not claim to be professional software developers. My comment is aimed at those that are supposed to be professional software developers, but aren't! Charles Wortz Software Development Division Texas Education Agency 1701 N. Congress Ave Austin, TX 78701-1494 512-463-9493 CWortz at tea.state.tx.us -----Original Message----- From: Tina Norris Fields [mailto:tinanfields at torchlake.com] Sent: Thursday 2003 Jun 12 07:14 To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: the "Education" system Mark, We have been ignoring the problem much too long. We already are graduating generations of functionally illiterate adults. Think of how many people cannot write a coherent English sentence. In a time when we are ever more dependent upon computers, which must be told exactly what to do, in terms they can understand, where the absence of a semicolon or a period will blow code right out of the water - is this the time to give up on teaching language skills and critical thinking? If we no longer can say what we mean, or even be certain of what we do mean, how can we properly program and control these stupid machines? I once taught an "electronic spreadsheet" course for my local college, and discovered in the first day of class that 5 of my 16 students could not figure out percentage and that 2 had gone all the way through high school without learning any Algebra. They all expected the program to do the analytical thinking for them and were apalled that they would have to figure out what their formulas should be. After I got over the shock, I redesigned the course to include the needed skills and experience. And, yes, I built all my quizzes and exams as real problems and projects - absolutely no "multiple guess" questions. I hate those. Almost always, a good case can be made for more than one answer, but only the officially RIGHT answer gets any credit at all. Okay, I'll quit ranting. Tina _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com