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Zuckerberg To Teach 10 Million Kids 0-Based Counting

theodp writes "'Why do programmers start counting at zero?' wondered Mike Hoye, questioning the conventional programming wisdom. Code.org will soon introduce the practice to a hoped-for audience of 10 million schoolchildren as part of Computer Science Education Week's Hour of Code. In a tutorial created by engineers from Microsoft, Google, Twitter and Facebook that's intended to introduce programming to kids as young as six years old, an otherwise breezy lesson featuring look-ma-no-typing Blockly and characters out of Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies, a Mark Zuckerberg video introducing the concept of Repeat Loops includes an out-of-place JavaScript example that shows kids it's as easy as 0-1-2-3 to generate 4 lines of lyrics from Happy Birthday to You by using zero-based numbering with a For-loop and ternary If statement. Accompanying videos by Bill Gates on If Statements and basketball star Chris Bosh on Repeat Until Blocks show the Code.org tutorial is still a work-in-progress. That's no big deal, since CSEdWeek has pushed back the delivery date for final Hour of Code tutorials from its prior little-time-for-testing due date to Dec. 9th, the first day of a five-day period during which teachers are expected to deliver the lessons to 10 million students."

4 of 295 comments (clear)

  1. Re:They don't. by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    This press conference is over.

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    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  2. Re:They don't. by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Funny

    This press conference is over.

    The press conference began at 0 PM, where were you?

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    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  3. Re:They don't. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    This press conference is over.

    The press conference began at 0 PM, where were you?

    I was at 0 Main Street.

    "The corner of 0th and Null" was the joke you wanted.

  4. It's actually only 9,999,999 kids.... by tekrat · · Score: 3, Funny

    Because you have to start counting kids from ZERO.
    Don't you guys read your own articles?

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    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.