How to make software do your bidding, even if you aren’t a software engineer especially Jordan Wirfs-Brock The Piton NNIP Ignite May 12, 2011

My name is Jordan, and I am not a programmer. By 2012, there will be and estimated: 3 million professional software developers 13 million “end-user” programmers – people who program, but aren’t software engineers (Source: Scaffidi, Shaw and Myers

= COMPUTER GEEK Image credit: Slideshow Bruce (

COMPUTER GEEK

Tip #1: It pays to have a friend on the inside.

We are, we are, we are, we are, we are the Engineers We can, we can, we can, we can, demolish forty beers Drink rum, drink rum, drink rum all day, and come along with us 'Cause we don't give a damn for any old man who don't give a damn for us!

Tip #2: Be a tinkerer and a designer.

Tip #3: R ead T he ( F ***ing) M anual

Tip #4: Do things multiple ways. multiple

Image credit: ALA – American Library Association, shared with a Creative Commons license.ALA – American Library Association

Too hot… …too cold… …JUST RIGHT.

Tip #5: Learn new tricks. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Chrkl, shared with a Creative Commons license.Chrkl

“…end-user programmers don't know a lot about computer science, and that lack of knowledge hurts them. …They mostly learn to program through. …Not knowing much about computer science means that they're inefficient at searching. ” Source: Mark Guzdial, “What do Scientists and Engineers Need to Know About Computer Science?” referring to Dorn and Guzdial, 2010, “Learning on the Job: Characterizing the Programming Knowledge and Learning Strategies of Web Designers”“What do Scientists and Engineers Need to Know About Computer Science?” “Learning on the Job: Characterizing the Programming Knowledge and Learning Strategies of Web Designers”

d Image credits: Galio, Hannes Grobe, THORGalioHannes GrobeTHOR E C Tip #6: