It Is Not The Task Of The

If Debugging Is The Process Of Removing Software Bugs, Then Programming Must Be The Process Of Putting Them In.

Yes, I Share Your Concern: How To Program Well -though A Teachable Topic- Is Hardly Taught. The Situation Is Similar To That In Mathematics, Where The Explicit Curriculum Is Confined To Mathematical Results; How To Do Mathematics Is Something The Student Must Absorb By Osmosis, So To Speak. One Reason For Preferring Symbol-manipulating, Calculating Arguments Is That Their Design Is Much Better Teachable Than The Design Of Verbal/pictorial Arguments. Large-scale Introduction Of Courses On Such Calculational Methodology, However, Would Encounter Unsurmoutable Political Problems.

In Passing I Draw Attention To Another English Expression Which Often Occurs In Dutch Texts: "the Real World". In Dutch - And I Am Afraid Not In Dutch Alone - Its Usage Is Almost Always A Symptom Of A Violent Anti-intellectualism.

When Building Sand Castles On The Beach, We Can Ignore The Waves But Should Watch The Tide.

There Is Very Little Point In Trying To Urge The World To Mend Its Ways As Long As That World Is Still Convinced That Its Ways Are Perfectly Adequate.