Re: How to get one interested in programming!

From	"Alf P. Steinbach /Usenet" <alf.p.steinbach+usenet@gmail.com>
Newsgroups	comp.programming
Subject	Re: How to get one interested in programming!
Date	2011-06-30 10:39 +0200
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<iuhc8d$kcj$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	<487f0fac-4b59-4056-b57b-6b4c938ae613@y13g2000yqy.googlegroups.com>

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* vaib, on 30.06.2011 07:49:
>
> Long time.
>
> So I am faced with a rather strange problem this time. it's not
> related to any coding task. I got interested in programming as a kid.
> We used to get exercises to do in the class and the sense of
> competition and making better programs was the kind of drive that got
> me interested in programming.
>
> Now I have a question for a friend of mine. Now she is a non-
> programmer and has taken entry to a bachelors in technology course.
> The only problem is that she hasn't got the kind of exposure one
> should have for programming. She has never programmed and picking up
> these think language books scares the shit out of her and I personally
> think is not the way to go.
>
> So how can I get her interested? I mean I thought that I could simply
> provide her with a few very easy coding tasks like - printing
> fibonacci, printing multiples of 3 and so on ...and then when she'd
> see that she can actually solve something and see it happen on the
> system then probably she'd find the drive for more!
>
> Am I wrong in my approach? Is there any other approach like, you know,
> building some small codes and then stitching them in the end that
> could probably result in a small project one could a little excited
> about?
>
> What's your say on this? I only post on usenet when it's absolutely
> necessary.

You don't provide much relevant information.

There are mental differences between males and females. To wit, very few 
programmers (or mathematicians, or physicists, or ...) are females. Whatever the 
cause  --  my personal theory has to do with how the brain forms models of 
things, for females more purely associative models that cannot easily be "run" 
or "evolved"  --  it means that you *probably* have an uphill battle.

I think the key must be to adapt your approach to the individual at hand. Use 
examples that at least in some aspects touch on things that she's interested in. 
Familiarity may be crucial (you state that she's scared by "think language 
books"), so perhaps start with web pages and such, and a bit of JavaScript.

Perhaps then Python and turtle graphics.

Be patient, and be flexible. Remember the statistics about female programmers. 
Depending on the individual, what you're trying *may* be an unnatural act.


Cheers & hth.,

- Alf

-- 
blog at <url: http://alfps.wordpress.com>

Thread

How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-06-29 22:49 -0700
  Re: How to get one interested in programming! "Alf P. Steinbach /Usenet" <alf.p.steinbach+usenet@gmail.com> - 2011-06-30 10:39 +0200
    Re: How to get one interested in programming! Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-06-30 06:58 -0700
      Re: How to get one interested in programming! "Alf P. Steinbach /Usenet" <alf.p.steinbach+usenet@gmail.com> - 2011-06-30 23:17 +0200
      Re: How to get one interested in programming! blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-07-02 19:28 +0000
      Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-03 01:09 -0700
    Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-01 00:45 -0700
  Re: How to get one interested in programming! rossum <rossum48@coldmail.com> - 2011-06-30 10:18 +0100
    Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-01 00:49 -0700
      Re: How to get one interested in programming! Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-07-01 05:19 -0700
        Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-03 01:26 -0700
          Re: How to get one interested in programming! Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-07-03 06:38 -0700
            Re: How to get one interested in programming! Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-07-03 09:03 -0700
              Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-03 12:29 -0700
                Re: How to get one interested in programming! Joe Wright <joewwright@comcast.net> - 2011-07-03 20:04 -0400
                Re: How to get one interested in programming! "James" <no@spam.invalid> - 2011-07-03 17:06 -0700
                Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-05 22:17 -0700
                Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-07 04:31 -0700
                Re: How to get one interested in programming! "James" <no@spam.invalid> - 2011-07-11 22:23 -0700
                Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-12 00:32 -0700
                Re: How to get one interested in programming! "Chris M. Thomasson" <cristom@charter.net> - 2011-07-12 00:50 -0700
                Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-13 00:36 -0700
                Re: How to get one interested in programming! "Chris M. Thomasson" <cristom@charter.net> - 2011-07-12 00:52 -0700
                Re: How to get one interested in programming! blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-07-12 23:39 +0000
      Re: How to get one interested in programming! "Chris Uppal" <chris.uppal@metagnostic.REMOVE-THIS.org> - 2011-07-02 11:46 +0100
        Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-03 01:27 -0700
    Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-03 00:51 -0700
  Re: How to get one interested in programming! Sherm Pendley <sherm.pendley@gmail.com> - 2011-06-30 09:52 -0400
    Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-03 00:50 -0700
  Re: How to get one interested in programming! Jongware <jongware@no-spam.plz> - 2011-06-30 17:05 +0200
    Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-03 01:16 -0700
  Re: How to get one interested in programming! JJ <jaejunks@googlemail.com> - 2011-07-01 02:31 +0700
    Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-03 01:20 -0700
  Re: How to get one interested in programming! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2011-07-03 12:02 +0200
    Re: How to get one interested in programming! vaib <vaibhavpanghal@gmail.com> - 2011-07-03 12:07 -0700

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