Do you think the askers are following through, and actually learning based off of the recommendations? Is it a band-wagon sort of thing? Is there any way to compile the information in one place and point askers towards that?
Do you think the askers are following through, and
actually learning based off of the recommendations?
Is there any way to compile the information in one
place and point askers towards that?
A truly motivated individual is likely to realize that this question is Googleable and will find tons of information. That leaves us with the occasional capable and motivated person asking for some guidance that HN could uniquely provide, and the rest of such questions are less worthy, IMO.
Making a nice resource, perhaps with some HN flavored info, would be really great were it to be referenced. The best case to me would be that "how to learn programming" posts would get no up votes and a single comment linking the resource. Or something along those lines.
A truly motivated individual is likely to realize that this question is Googleable and will find tons of information.
Agreed. And there are many other HN-related routes too - I've had great responses asking questions of HNOfficeHours individuals.
Making a nice resource, perhaps with some HN flavored info, would be really great were it to be referenced.
Do you think a compilation would be referenced enough to make it worthwhile? Sounds like a valuable side project if it would actually be used.
Some sites give links to such info when a user signs up, have always visible links in a sidebar, etc., and people still ask, and just as often.
So I think dealing with this is like doing laundry: however well you approach the task and whatever resources you throw at it, it will need doing again in a few days, and a few days after that, forever. Realizing that, you can make the task as pleasurable and efficient as possible, but it will always be a recurring task.
I believe the question they really want an answer to is, "How do programs work?".
If you really boil down the initial appeal of programming, it isn't Python/C/PHP/Ruby, it's learning how to make the things that those languages are associated with. People are fascinated by programs that can sync files between computers (dropbox/Python), share pictures on the internet (facebook/PHP), or cause your computer to run (Linux/C).
I think the best way to help somebody with this question is to find out what it is about software that fascinates them, then suggest a language/framework that facilitates that.
1. Asking the question on HN is a hell of a lot less painful than actually sitting down to learn to program.
2. Reading the answers feels a hell of a lot more like progress than eight lines of code that still doesn't work after four hours.
3. Programmers are more willing to answer "How do I learn to program?" questions than cellists are willing to answer "How do I learn to play the cello?" questions.
I think much of this could actually be rooted in fear, which drives procrastination in lots of people - more than most of us realize, I think. Merlin Mann's gave a great talk on fear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk0hSeQ5s_k
The key is to understand that fear isn't going to go away completely, and to still keep doing, even though you're scared.
Enough talk. I'm going to go build something now.
IE if you want to learn this, start here. If you think this is more important, start here.