Procedures & Mindstorms

["Jeff Knope" <jknope@xxxxxxxx>]

Clearly, we've struck a provocative vein.  I think this must be a record for
number of responses on a subject in a 72 hour period.

Being not a teacher, I have nothing to offer about how kids tackle procedures:
short-and-sweet, long-and-rambling, or whatever.  But ignorance rarely
dissuades me from opining about how things should be.

Every art (in the broadest sense) involves discovering the natural structure
of a problem.  If you already know before you start what the structure of a
problem is ... well, a computer should already be doing your job.

So, the thing about writing procedures is you invariably start out dead wrong.
 It's in the blundering into it that you begin to discover what its true
nature really is.  Some comfort level with not being perfect the first time
must be a part of the ethic.  

You shouldn't be embarrassed for having been wrong.  You should be proud that
you recognized something you hadn't seen before.  

Writing procedures is a crucible of critical thinking.  It's not like washing
the dishes. You don't just roll up your sleeves and do it and be done with it.
 It is probing, reflecting, shitcanning, and starting over.  Time after time.
 

Sooner or later, your program is a mirror of the true problem.  When it is,
you know it.  And you walk away with a very good feeling about yourself.

--Jeff