**In India even in computer science courses we learn only History 99 % of the time**

The plot twist is that many students give up once they realize they can't do anything with these alphabets.

Learning any valuable knowledge/know-how requires times and efforts. Be it to learn to write (the art of properly sketching letters: how many months of daily boring repetitive tracing work?), or to walk (how long did it take to most toddlers to learn to stand on their feet, and with how many bumps on their head and diapered bum... I still have a scar I got when I started walking alone), to learn a foreign language, or how to build the next great app/service.

But I insist, I'm an outsider without any understanding of what would be the alphabet/basic grammar in the computing world. I imagine some computing languages are more fundamentals than others but beside that I'm clueless. Hence my question or remark.

Also, it's ok for some people to give up. It is even to be expected (I changed my major after a few month at university, I even changed university). What worries me a lot more is to notice more and more young people refusing to spend the required time and do the actual work of learning, wanting to immediately get to the end result. The thing is that there is no shortcut to learning any new skill, Shortcuts are a lie. And it is us, the older people (I'm well into my 50s) that decided to allow those youngsters to skip that required effort and to not learn patience. And that can't go well... at least, not for very long. It's a mistake that will also cost those young people a lot the moment they get out of school and start competing against other young people that will have properly learned whatever skills they need to get whatever job they are competing for.

Learning basics without proper guidance is disastrous.

100% correct. But isn't guidance what teaching is supposed to be about (aka leading students from a state of ignorance on some subject to a state where they start to understand/know that subject at least a little better), and isn't it what teachers are supposed to be doing during classes (guiding the student)? I mean, what are you (the students) doing during those classes and what are they (the teachers) doing if not that?

I think I understand the point you make, but your last remark about the lack of guidance worries me even more than I usually am regarding the state of our various educative systems, around the world. Being French, I'm much more directly concerned with education in the Western societies but I know it's anything but limited to those Western societies. Alas.

Obviously, I may be completely wrong here, it's just my personal impression but that impression is really that we have given up on readying our new generations for what their about to face as young adults. Which is... not good.

4 comments

Is it a problem? I mean, isn't it like learning the alphabet, basic grammar and vocabulary before starting to write complete books?
Sorry if this is is a silly question, if that was not obvious I'm not a dev ;)
- @Libb Sure, it's not a problem. I'm just exaggerating the system for the sake of the topic. The plot twist is that many students give up once they realize they can't do anything with these alphabets.
  Learning basics without proper guidance is disastrous.
  
  The plot twist is that many students give up once they realize they can't do anything with these alphabets.
  Learning any valuable knowledge/know-how requires times and efforts. Be it to learn to write (the art of properly sketching letters: how many months of daily boring repetitive tracing work?), or to walk (how long did it take to most toddlers to learn to stand on their feet, and with how many bumps on their head and diapered bum... I still have a scar I got when I started walking alone), to learn a foreign language, or how to build the next great app/service.
  But I insist, I'm an outsider without any understanding of what would be the alphabet/basic grammar in the computing world. I imagine some computing languages are more fundamentals than others but beside that I'm clueless. Hence my question or remark.
  Also, it's ok for some people to give up. It is even to be expected (I changed my major after a few month at university, I even changed university). What worries me a lot more is to notice more and more young people refusing to spend the required time and do the actual work of learning, wanting to immediately get to the end result. The thing is that there is no shortcut to learning any new skill, Shortcuts are a lie. And it is us, the older people (I'm well into my 50s) that decided to allow those youngsters to skip that required effort and to not learn patience. And that can't go well... at least, not for very long. It's a mistake that will also cost those young people a lot the moment they get out of school and start competing against other young people that will have properly learned whatever skills they need to get whatever job they are competing for.
  Learning basics without proper guidance is disastrous.
  100% correct. But isn't guidance what teaching is supposed to be about (aka leading students from a state of ignorance on some subject to a state where they start to understand/know that subject at least a little better), and isn't it what teachers are supposed to be doing during classes (guiding the student)? I mean, what are you (the students) doing during those classes and what are they (the teachers) doing if not that?
  I think I understand the point you make, but your last remark about the lack of guidance worries me even more than I usually am regarding the state of our various educative systems, around the world. Being French, I'm much more directly concerned with education in the Western societies but I know it's anything but limited to those Western societies. Alas.
  Obviously, I may be completely wrong here, it's just my personal impression but that impression is really that we have given up on readying our new generations for what their about to face as young adults. Which is... not good.
Java 8 or "AI", there's no in between, and I get the feeling that Java 8 (and similar things of this era) are the best options out of any.