Quite a lot as it turns out.
They are both tools used to solve problems.
Both are complex.
Both inspire cult-like emotional attachments to specific tools.
Practitioners in both fields are still looking for the panacea that will allow people without knowledge, experience, or imagination to produce stuff that can be used.
Both are the means to an end and have very little value in and of themselves.
Both require a deep understanding of the technology upon which they rely.
Practitioners in both fields often lack that deep understanding.
Oct. 14, 1985: C++ Adds to Programming | This Day In Tech | Wired.com.
Here are a couple of quotes that would apply equally well to either:
I consider the idea of one language, one programming tool, as the one and only best tool for everyone and for every problem infantile. If someone claims to have the perfect language he is either a fool or a salesman or both.
I think it is probably the same everywhere. There are very few people who are ever really good at what ever it is they do. By definition, most are average and few are exceptional.
In the end we do no-one any favours by changing the definition of average just to spare hurt feelings. I think that’s sometimes what happens though.
I have been programming for 30 years and teaching for 10. I program in most languages, my favorite being Assembler, which is kind of machine code. But now there is only high level systems like C#….sadly!
We used to say that programming was part Art, part Science. You could put 30 programmers in a room and ask them to solve a problem, and you would get 30 different programs – all would work and all would work well, but all would take a different approach.
These days, there is no Art in programming as we live in a “I need it now, I don’t care if it is inefficient. We will fix the bugs later” world. Sadly it is very hard to find passionate and creative programmers.
I wonder if it is the same in teaching? There appear to be very few passionate creative teacher out there – except of course you Katrin…and me 🙂