Heard a kid at the library say coding is just typing

I was at the Seattle Public Library yesterday and a kid told his friend that coding is just typing words into a computer. His dad then explained it's more like giving the computer a very clear set of steps, like a recipe. That stuck with me because I've been stuck on a project for two weeks trying to make a simple to-do list. I was just typing code I didn't get. Now I'm going back to write out the steps in plain English first, like 'show the list' and 'add new item'. Has anyone else tried writing the steps out before coding?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.charles12d ago

Oh the "coding is just typing" take, that's a classic. I love when people explain things with food, like we're all just teaching computers to make a sandwich. Your to-do list plan sounds way better than my usual method, which is mostly typing angry questions into Google until it works. Writing steps first is basically admitting you have a plan, which feels weirdly professional.

fiona50212d ago

Seriously, it's just typing though. We're all basically telling the computer what to do, one step at a time. Getting fancy about it feels like overthinking a simple task.