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by cymon 1871 days ago
Interesting you were coding at 5, I have 7 and 5 year olds who are pretty good with computers, can install and learn new games by themselves but I haven't considered introducing them to programming mainly because I don't feel they can manage and also it does not seem necessary...considering I personally started coding at the age of 20 when I joined university for my computer science degree and I have been fairly successful, currently working for a US company, remotely from Africa and making more than a US average developer salary which in my city puts me at top 0.1% salary range, and with a quite positive career outlook.
2 comments
wildmanx 1871 days ago
I think you are missing the point then of introducing them to programming.

It's not about career prospects. It's about joy and about learning a way to structured thoughts which few other activities can provide. A computer can't be argued with or tricked. It executes instructions. You can't beg it to be nice, you have to actually fix the bug. It won't betray you either. This very strict cause-and-effect property is a very important lesson that too few members of society have understood.

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bitwize 1870 days ago
Well, for one thing, back when I learned, there wasn't a whole lot you could do with a microcomputer besides program it. The first computer I had was a VIC-20, and I didn't get any games with it so it was strictly a BASIC machine. Today, kids have endless options for games and other software to try, plus access to the whole online world (well hopefully, only as much of that world as their parents let them see!).

You may wish to show your kids something like Scratch or even just drawing pictures with Python's turtle library, just to get a feel for their interest level. If they figured out how to install games and stuff on their own, they are good candidates for programming, provided they are interested. Most importantly, you cannot rush it. They will become interested in programming (or anything else) if and when they are ready. Any age is a good age to get started. I have much respect for folks who discover programming during middle age or older.

Oh, and like the other commenter said... worry about their career prospects later. Right now, for them it's about having fun.

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