While there is some value to humanities students learning to code, I don’t believe that it’s necessary or even important to learn code in the humanities. This is a view I share with Evan Donahue, who wrote that “While programming will indeed usefully equip one better to understand computer scientific discourses, it should NOT be taken as the necessary precondition to engaging with the computer sciences”
As someone with no prior experience of computer science or programming, I don’t believe that my ability to learn in the humanities is impaired because of it. I also believe that just because someone can write basic computer programs, that does not mean there’s value in using this in the humanities. For example, this code I wrote as part of a tutorial in HTML and CSS doesn’t really present text in a way that can’t be done without coding knowledge.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My first web page</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
<!-- This is a comment, by the way -->
</head>
<body>
<h1>My first web page</h1>
<h2>What this is</h2>
<p>A simple page put together using HTML. <em>I said a simple page put together using HTML.</em> A simple page put together using HTML. A simple page put together using HTML. A simple page put together using HTML. A simple page put together using HTML. A simple page put together using HTML. A simple page put together using HTML. A simple page put together using HTML.</p>While of course those with more experience and knowledge of programming could present information in new and valuable ways, I don’t see it as something necessary for all humanities students.
