Exploratory Data AlexI wish to blur the line between _using_ a computer and _programming_ a computer.
There's this barrier between computer use and computer programming and it's mostly *not* computer science knowledge, but complexity of languages and the tools for working with them. I want to lower this barrier. I doubt that "low code" tools are the way, but rather, more powerful, higher-level languages and scripting interfaces with more approachable tooling.
Dean Marchiori@alexkyllo R is a nice case for this. very domain specific functional language. if you get criticism from CS purists you're generally on the right track
@deanmarchiori 💯 I actually think #rstats in RStudio is the best programming tool for most first-time programmers, at least those who are doing anything involving data, which is a lot of them. R is also surprisingly powerful and capable as a scripting language--it's designed for statistics but no longer as limited to that domain as people think.
David Keyes@alexkyllo @deanmarchiori That's exactly what I'm writing about in my book!
Dr. Kevin P. Taylor@dgkeyes @alexkyllo @deanmarchiori I look forward to reading the book. Do you have a ETA for it yet?
@ktaylor @alexkyllo @deanmarchiori Thanks! It will be out in print in 2024. There is an in-progress version here: https://book.rwithoutstatistics.com
About the Book | R Without Statistics
Since R was invented in 1993, it has become a widely used programming language for statistical analysis. From academia to the tech world and beyond, R is used for a wide range of statistical analysis. R Without Statistics will show ways that R can be used beyond complex statistical analysis. Readers will learn about a range of uses for R, many of which they have likely never even considered.
Arik Friedman@alexkyllo
Would you consider Excel a "use computer" or a "program computer"?
Would you consider Excel a "use computer" or a "program computer"?
@arikf both, and that's a big reason for its popularity. But even within Excel, there's a significant barrier between using it with formulas and programming it with VBA, and the VBA interface hasn't been kept up to date with the rest of the product.
@alexkyllo
When I asked about use vs. program I wasn't referring to the VBA part (which is clearly code), but about the formulas. This was before my time, but I suspect that the spreadsheet paradigm (introduced by VisiCalc) pushed what used to previously require programming into the "use" domain. I'm actually not sure if this paradigm would fall on the "no code" or on the "scripting interface" side...
When I asked about use vs. program I wasn't referring to the VBA part (which is clearly code), but about the formulas. This was before my time, but I suspect that the spreadsheet paradigm (introduced by VisiCalc) pushed what used to previously require programming into the "use" domain. I'm actually not sure if this paradigm would fall on the "no code" or on the "scripting interface" side...
@alexkyllo
When I asked about use vs. program I wasn't referring to the VBA part (which is clearly code), but about the formulas. This was before my time, but I suspect that the spreadsheet paradigm (introduced by VisiCalc) pushed what used to previously require programming into the "use" domain. I'm actually not sure if this paradigm would fall on the "no code" or on the "scripting interface" side...
When I asked about use vs. program I wasn't referring to the VBA part (which is clearly code), but about the formulas. This was before my time, but I suspect that the spreadsheet paradigm (introduced by VisiCalc) pushed what used to previously require programming into the "use" domain. I'm actually not sure if this paradigm would fall on the "no code" or on the "scripting interface" side...