Back in 1981/82, when I was in Fifth Year in secondary school in Ireland (equivalent of 11th grade in US high school), I took an extra-curricular programming course. For the first few months, it was just writing little programs on paper. Then I discovered that there were actual computers that we could use in another room in a normally off-limits part of the school. Once I actually physically interacted with an Apple ][, it all started clicking and I got hooked. The paper exercise was boring; I needed the interactivity of typing the code and seeing it run or fail.
Forty-plus years of professional software development later, I can say that I occasionally write code in my head before putting my hands on the keyboard, and it usually turns out well.
What I usually do nowadays is to open up a simple text editor and write detailed Python pseudocode where I pay attention to the algorithm instead of the syntax. It works extremely well when I’m stuck and don’t want to delegate the task to an LLM.
In general, i think writing on paper is better than using keyboard, i have noticed myself that i remember and visualise things better when i am writing stuff on paper rather than just reading it or using a keyboard (Ctrl C + Ctrl V)
Sometimes, patterns are hard to see in the thing we’re looking at directly. But when we LOOK AT SOMETHING SIMILAR....suddenly patterns become obvious.... GRATITUDE ❣️....
I would like to draw your attention to an essay by the emminent German writer Heinrich von Kleist (1777–1811).
It is titled "On the Gradual Formation of Thoughts While Speaking."
In it, Kleist describes how it is the very act of speaking that gives rise to thoughts. And the same applies to writing.
Thanks! Haven’t read the essay, but there’s a similar idea that I quote in the video.
Back in 1981/82, when I was in Fifth Year in secondary school in Ireland (equivalent of 11th grade in US high school), I took an extra-curricular programming course. For the first few months, it was just writing little programs on paper. Then I discovered that there were actual computers that we could use in another room in a normally off-limits part of the school. Once I actually physically interacted with an Apple ][, it all started clicking and I got hooked. The paper exercise was boring; I needed the interactivity of typing the code and seeing it run or fail.
Forty-plus years of professional software development later, I can say that I occasionally write code in my head before putting my hands on the keyboard, and it usually turns out well.
What I usually do nowadays is to open up a simple text editor and write detailed Python pseudocode where I pay attention to the algorithm instead of the syntax. It works extremely well when I’m stuck and don’t want to delegate the task to an LLM.
In general, i think writing on paper is better than using keyboard, i have noticed myself that i remember and visualise things better when i am writing stuff on paper rather than just reading it or using a keyboard (Ctrl C + Ctrl V)
Sometimes, patterns are hard to see in the thing we’re looking at directly. But when we LOOK AT SOMETHING SIMILAR....suddenly patterns become obvious.... GRATITUDE ❣️....