In today’s world, virtually every person uses the internet. Whether it be to google something, for work, or to play games, it is a fundamental part of life for those who have access to it. Because of its prevalence in today’s society, I do believe that there should be a basic computer science component in every young adults education. While computer science may not be directly applicable to every field, I believe that some very basic background knowledge can go a lot way in many disciplines.
In Matthew G. Kirschenbaum’s piece “Hello Worlds (why humanities students should learn to program)” , he touches on how computer science is often misunderstood as a place with only one goal, while in reality it can be used for so many different things. It is often generalized into a place with only one goal where only one type of person is welcome, but in reality it is similar to other disciplines in that it can be further generalized into many different goals.
Kirschenbaum also goes into how computer science is, contrary to popular belief, a creative discipline. In the article he explains
“Novelists have also expanded their range to include programming languages; Ellen Ullman, for example, includes chunks of raw source code in the pages of her novel The Bug. The effect is perhaps reminiscent of those readers who made it through Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose only to find that a key line of the book is in Latin. What is surprising to many of Ullman’s readers is just how much of the code they can make some sense of, even if they are not (like Berta, her novel’s protagonist) code savvy. Clearly the distinction between what’s on the screen (or page) and what lies beneath is beginning to disappear, as computer languages seep into the visible, legible spaces in which we read.”
Not only is basic coding more understandable than it may seem to someone who has never done it before, it also forces you to be creative and use your brain in a new way as do many other core courses at liberal arts schools.
In the past, I have done a few free coding lessons on the internet with HTML and also took intro to computer science last winter at Carleton. In my Computer Science class at Carleton, we worked in python and created lots of algorithms for things like word games and searching methods. While this was cool to learn, it was shocking how quickly you can get frustrated. I also preferred working with HTML because of the instant gratification. To make an (admittedly weird looking) simple webpage, the code is pretty simple and looks like something you might actually see on the internet.
For this assignment, I did the basic HTML tutorial with HTML Dog and wrote this simple code on different kinds of cookies. Some of the code for the list of cookies is shown below. I also was able to add pictures, make headings, and paragraphs. This was all in a very short amount of time, so what you can do with more practice and resources is pretty remarkable. Working on this assignment strengthens my belief that learning basic computer science is useful for everyone, especially if it is catered in a way that makes it interesting and applicable for you.
<pre>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title> Cookie webpage </title>
</head>
<body>
<img src=https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.f5ee597cd5a1916f4ba98bbe9cd1f5a5?rik=5fXuiz9h5%2bb3fA&riu=http%3a%2f%2fclipart-library.com%2fimg1%2f1150784.jpg&ehk=Usx0UeCly7fA9e%2br52xBB996H2GS0Pkhwou6JxRfrq4%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0 alt="Cookie Picture" >
<p> This is my first webpage </p>
<p> It's about cookies </p>
<p> <em> which is super cool! </em> </p>
<h1> List of cookie types </h1>
<ul>
<li> chocolate chip </li>
<li> sugar </li>
<li> snickerdoodle </li>
</li>
</ul>
<h2> cookie link </h2>
<p><a href="https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/25037/best-big-fat-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie/?printview"><img src="http://www.htmldog.com/badge1.gif" width="120" height="90" alt="Good Cookie Recipe"></a></p>
</pre>1 thought on “Should Liberal Arts Students Learn To Code?”
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I agree that when coding is accessible and readable, it is very useful to know how to apply it to a relevant subject (such as the humanities). Your quote about blurring the line between digital and analog in the reading and comprehension world is very interesting. Your code blocks looked very well-formatted, and this is using a free online code editor. Great blog post!