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Coding Academies -- Useful Or Nonsense? (techcrunch.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the useful-nonsense dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Stephen Nichols, CEO of a platform that helps non-coders create simple video games, thinks that so-called coding academies are essentially snake oil. "In 20+ years of professional coding, I've never seen someone go from novice to full-fledged programmer in a matter of weeks, yet that seems to be what coding academies are promising, alongside instant employment, a salary big enough to afford a Tesla and the ability to change lives." His point is reminiscent of Peter Norvig's in "Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years."

Nichols also thinks coding tools will become powerful enough in the next decade that the demand for actual, dedicated coders will diminish (perhaps not surprising, given his business). But he's probably right that the people likely to go to a coding academy are likely to be the ones using those tools, when they arrive. "Put succinctly, coding is writing text files in foreign languages containing instructions suitable for an absolute idiot to follow. ... For a little while, spending tens of thousands of dollars on a coding academy might feel like a good way to surmount the intimidation. ... More likely, it is just a new pathway into debt."

3 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Coding academies are nonsense and attract the kind of mind that becomes a lawyer because they want money, or becomes a doctor because they want money. Real programmers have gravitated towards their field long before ever having a formal education in it. Also, I highly doubt you can teach the computer science concepts that back up this field in a few weeks. Really, these places just produce code monkeys who don't really understand what they're doing but glue pieces of code from Stack Overflow together.

    1. Re:Nope by eulernet · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'd like to share my own experience, since I'm self-taught programmer.

      I started programming 35 years ago, on a pocket calculator (TI58-C), then moved onto some micro-computers.
      At this time, I realized that that's what I wanted to do as my job.
      So I spent a lot of time disassembling code, in order to understand how it was done.
      Then I started to write my own games.
      I finally got hired into a video game company, but I realized that working in a company could not provide me enough software education.
      I bought the Art of Computer Programming, and I passionately read it.
      Later, I entered programming contests, where I could explore combinatorial algorithms by practicing them.
      Now, I'm equivalent to a software engineer, though I'm underemployed given my experience.

      So yes, you can practice programming and acquire theoretical bases afterwards.
      But most coders I met were satisfied with their level, never trying to challenge their knowledge.
      I don't speak about learning new languages, but new ways to solve problems.
      They are more dedicated to build their career.

  2. Stupid Idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Teach them math and critial thinking... Coding is just a translation level. ie human "compilers". Taking one language and encoding in another. As C++ is converted to binary (or P-code to bin).

    Writing code easy ANYONE can do it. Understanding what you are writing is meaningful, actaully does what you want? That is crital thinking.