Comments for thecomputerboys.com

Comment on How many programmers are there? by Hopscotch iPad App Aims To Teach Children Programming - Kids&Tabs

Hopscotch iPad App Aims To Teach Children Programming - Kids&Tabs — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:05:33 +0000

[...] for now, figures from the Bureau of Labor show that as far as programmer employment is concerned, males outweigh females in that industry and [...]

Comment on How many programmers are there? by Hopscotch iPad App Aims To Teach Children Programming | Gadget News, Reviews and Guides

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:50:53 +0000

[...] for now, figures from the Bureau of Labor show that as far as programmer employment is concerned, males outweigh females in that industry and [...]

Comment on The politics of programming languages by Object Woman{}: Reflections on Scratch | CHC Game Studies 2013

Object Woman{}: Reflections on Scratch | CHC Game Studies 2013 — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 03:23:51 +0000

[...] nature of binary programing—something inherent within computer science. Nathan Ensmenger wrote a few years ago about the ways in which different programming languages embodied different social, [...]

Comment on The Computer Girls? by Stagn1976

Stagn1976 — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 03:00:39 +0000

This may be true, but when I was in college for Computer Science, in all my computer classes, I had maybe five women in those classes. Tops.

It’s very hard to find women in IT. But of the ones I’ve met, they’ve all been very good!

Comment on High Tech History by The Computer Boys Take Over

The Computer Boys Take Over — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:33:19 +0000

[...] The full essay is behind a paywall, but if you have access is well worth tracking down. I have said before that a good reviewer can reveal things about a book that even the author might not have seen or [...]

Comment on How many programmers are there? by nathanen

nathanen — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:06:08 +0000

Patrick — thanks for the data on Stack Overflow. I agree that the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers skew low, particularly in the data from the past two decades, after they began adding additional categories that cover some of the same territory as “programmer” (what is the difference, for example, between a computer programmer and a software developer, according to the BLS?).

In part the ambiguity around what makes a programmer is what makes this history so interesting. These are debated categories, and different actors and observers use the term in different ways in different contexts. On the other hand, it is frustrating not to have reliable data…

Comment on How many programmers are there? by Patrick Morrison

Patrick Morrison — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:24:34 +0000

Thank you for the blog and book, I plan on downloading the Kindle edition after this post.

I suspect the programmer employment numbers are low, based on a little bit of digging.
I ran a query against the Stack Overflow (SO) Users table (query URL is in the website field), and it reports that 1,170,181 unique users used the site in 2012. Now, while it’s true that not everyone who uses SO is a programmer, it’s also likely true that not every programmer uses SO (In particular, SO use is worldwide, while the graph is for the US). I further guess that it’s a reasonable proxy for programmer employment, though I wouldn’t yet venture a guess as to how much this is the case. That there are roughly twice as many unique SO users as there are reported programmers does suggest that the reporting may not have caught up with the situation ‘on the ground’.

Comment on How many programmers are there? by How many programmers are there? From The Computer Boys Take Over « Computing Education Blog

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:39:21 +0000

[...] via The Computer Boys Take Over. [...]

Comment on The Well-Dressed Programmer by nathanen

nathanen — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:11:54 +0000

Fred — thank you for the comment and the information. I was not aware of the origins of this image, but am very glad to know now. When I blow up the image I can indeed see your name in the pillow. I would love to learn more about your early career as a programmer. I will send an email to your fredstahl.com address. In the meantime, thanks again!

Comment on The Well-Dressed Programmer by Fred Stahl

Fred Stahl — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:46:07 +0000

Nathan, you might be interested to know that I drew The Well-dressed Programmer. At the time I was working as a programmer for a think-tank doing work under contract to Air Force Headquarters. Before that, i had worked as a programmer at the “computer lab” at Wayne State University for five years. The new business of computers attracted a lot of smart people. The humor of their culture tended to be satirical comments on the follies we saw in our fellow programmers. I wanted to capture all that humor in one picture.

You may not be able to see it clearly in the image you have, but the letters S T A H L are embedded in the pattern of the pillow under the programmer’s left elbow.

The picture hangs in my study today.

I am delighted that the drawing can still entertain!

Fred Stahl