Meaningless codes

Given just how much of our lives involves using apps, websites or embedded computers, you might think that an initiative to teach children the basics of how to create software and not just how to use it would be uncontroversial.

Well, that’s the stated goal of Year of Code, and whilst you might be able to find fault with its execution, that’s not the angle that Jeremy Paxman chose to take when interviewing Year of Code’s director, Lottie Dexter, on Newsnight last week. Instead, Paxman decided to ridicule the very notion using the curious argument that because he couldn’t understand some computer code, it was therefore meaningless, and by implication, worthless. That he can’t get his head around what code is, let alone what it means, rather confirms the importance of this initiative.

Here at Mythic Beasts we have some pretty strong views on starting coding young, so Pete took his Raspberry Pi and attempted to explain what coding is in terms that even Jeremy might understand, through the medium of a musical e-Card and via a few lines of Perl that can generate just about every pop hit ever. To read Pete’s views, or just to see a video of him playing the piano, click here.