Yes, You Really Can Learn to Code and It Won’t Hurt Your Brain Very Much At All

 

Yes, You Really Can Learn to Code and It Won’t Hurt Your Brain Very Much At All

But no, this probably won’t get you a programming job

Anthony Lawrence
Photo by Author

I think it’s unfortunate that so many people see writing computer code as something ordinary mortals cannot comprehend. They think that coding is the exclusive domain of geniuses, that ordinary people might as well bang their head against a brick wall because that would hurt less than learning to code.

Actually, it’s much worse than that.

Some people can be professional programmers. Some of us can be physicists, NFL quarterbacks, Michelin chefs, prize winning authors, and so on. Most of us have less lofty ambitions because our innate blessings were more like corner diner leftovers than a gourmet feast. Some people say that we all have a special talent. Sure, if that makes you happy. Mine is knowing happy talk when I hear it.

But people who aren’t NBA stars can lob a basketball toward the net and even hit it now and then. People who have never been on the New York Times Best Seller list can make money at Medium. And people who will never be professional programmers can learn a bit of coding.

But why would you?

Oh, I don’t know: Curiosity? Boredom? Challenge yourself? A neat hobby? Keep your mind sharp? Understand some techno-babble better? Or maybe you do have an unexplored talent and could end up as a professional — if (insert some sports celebrity here) had never touched a (bat, football, etc.) he/she might never have become (whatever they are now).

Also, at some point soon Apple says we will be able to develop IOS apps right on an iPad — that’s exciting. Well, *I* think it is exciting.

Take your pick. If you aren’t ready to switch away to read something else by now, maybe one of those reasons hit the sweet spot or maybe you have some other reason.

So what now?

Playgrounds

Apple offers an app for iPads and Mac that teaches kids how to code in Swift, which is a computer language that Apple developed and that can be used to write apps for Apple devices. It’s called Playgrounds. You’ll need an iPad running at least iPadOS 13.4 or a Mac running macOS 10.15.4 or later. Playgrounds is free.

Fire it up and try out the first lesson. You’ll be moving a cartoon character around to collect some jewels. Apparently he eats them?

Don’t gotcha no Apple?

I’m sorry. I’ve wasted your time. But if you can swing it, an older iPad can be quite inexpensive and can do this as long as it can run at least iPadOS 13.4, which takes us all the way back to iPad Air 2. Those run about $100.00, I think, maybe less.

Maybe buy an iPad for a child and check out Playgrounds before you give it to them? Maybe? Early exposure to things like this could be quite lucrative later in life. I got interested in computers in the 1950s because my parents gave me a toy that was a simple analog computer. It was a long time before I put my hands on a digital computer, but I was mentally prepared,

Aargh!

Sigh. Unless you have an external keyboard, Playgrounds is much better on the Mac than the iPad. The problem is code completion: as you start to type, Playgrounds shows you the commands that you could mean and lets you click on those rather than finish typing. Without an external keyboard, the on screen keyboard frequently disappears and must be summoned back by hitting the lower right hand up-caret (circled in red below).

Hit this to get iPad keyboard- screenshot by author

That’s annoying. It’s also harder to select text for deletion or copying on an iPad. Also annoying on both iPad and Mac is the incessant background music. I expected to find a preference setting to shut that nonsense off, but no, you have to turn down the volume. Sheesh! I think even the youngest kiddies might roll their eyes at that!

Minor grumbles

You’ll begin your journey by using commands like moveForward() and collectGem(). These are not part of the Swift language. That may not be obvious to you, especially if you have previously been exposed to learning tools that do have such built in simplifications. Playgrounds has simply provided you with some hidden functions to use.

Also, naming it Playgounds? You wouldn't necessarily know this, but Apple’s Xcode development system already has something called Swift Playgrounds, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the Playgrounds app. Sure, that will never confuse anyone.

This might be boring

If you have had some programming experience, moving a cartoon around its environment might be very boring. I certainly found this to be true; the first time I tried to go through the lessons, I quit very early in. There are more advanced lessons later on; I could have skipped to those, but I didn’t.

If you know that you would be better off with something more adult, Apple hasraw Swift docs and you can find many, many Swift courses online. But until the promise of app development on iPad appears, you’d need a Mac and the (free, fortunately) Xcode development system.

Stubborn me

I did recently try Playgrounds again because I want to go through the whole thing, bored or not, just so I can see what it would be like — in other words, do I think it’s possible to start here and get to there without other coding knowledge.

Why am I suspicious? It’s because I have seen too many courses that started with the basics and then ramped up too quickly, leaving me reeling. I cannot remember what it was about, but I had this to say about an online Google course I once took:

I wanted to learn how to swim, so Google showed me how to turn on the water at the sink and let me splash it around a bit. They then dragged me into a helicopter, flew way out into the ocean, and dumped me out. (Tony Lawrence)

I hope that the Playgrounds app won’t be like that. What I am doing about the boredom is to complete only one lesson per day. That’s sometimes painful, but it’s mercifully short, so I can do it. I may accelerate the pace as it gets more challenging, but for now, it’s like vitamins and dessert: One a day.

So, what do you think? Interesting? Scary? Boring? Let me know in the comments.

Click to upgrade to full Medium membership. This is an affiliate link. I receive financial incentives for new referrals.

Content Index

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Telegram From Mark Twain to My Great-Grandfather

Image
  A Telegram From Mark Twain to My Great-Grandfather We have some written history and some oral history. Do they tell the same story? Anthony Lawrence (Pcunix) Photo by author — one of my most favorite books One of my cousins is very interested in genealogy. He has a lot of fun with it, perhaps because he often visits or has extensive phone contact with cousins he finds through his research. I’m not disinterested in my ancestors and living relatives. Still, I also realize that we are all cousins; for every famous person we might find a close connection with, dozens of rapscallions and worse are just as closely related. I also tend to question family lore. For example, my paternal great grandfather was an artist of some minor renown. The history passed down to me has him involved with many things, including: From Wikitree  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lawrence-5332 .. an interior designer for the White House under McKinley, the Toronto Parliament Building, the Boston Public Li...
Read more

A Major League Ballplayer Who Quoted Shakespeare at the Umpire

Image
  A Major League Ballplayer Who Quoted Shakespeare at the Umpire And who happened to be my mother’s uncle Anthony Lawrence (Pcunix) HISTORY My mother’s uncle wrote this book Lloyd Garrison “Chick” Davies was an unusual baseball player .  He only played four widely separated seasons in the major leagues and four more in the minors, but he did distinguish himself playing for the New York Giants in the 1926 World Series, leading the National League with 6 saves and 29 games finished. He also happened to be my great-uncle . See below for an update that explains that he did not play in the 1926 World Series but did play against Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Oh, and he wrote a book about pitching .  I vaguely remember seeing a copy of it when his sister, my grandmother, lived with us after her husband died.  I wasn’t interested then in pitching or great-uncles I had never met; I wish now that I had been. My quest I  recently bought a well-worn copy of ...
Read more

My Great-Grandfather’s Toy Cannon

Image
  My Great-Grandfather’s Toy Cannon I’m not sure that “toy” is the right word, however, that is the word my father and his mother used. Anthony Lawrence (Pcunix) History The “toy” cannon The picture above is a Lawrence family heirloom. I’m not sure that “toy” is the right word, however, that is the word my father and his mother used. I know that it was a gift to Herbert Myron Lawrence, my father’s grandfather. My father gave it to me and I, in turn, have given it to my oldest daughter. HML engraving I do not know how old Herbert was when he received this. He was born in 1851 and died in 1937, which does not identify the time frame of the gift. However, my father did say it was a gift, not something he bought for himself. That could be a misunderstanding. The cannon is engraved with HML initials. One  reference I found  asserts: In fact, toy cannons date back to the American Civil War and before, and not only were they popular toys for children, they were remarkably danger...
Read more