No, not the creepy, spooky, blood-drenched nightmares that Haunters usually enjoy. I mean nightmares that disturb me.
In my nightmares, I see people who are afraid to take their haunting to the next level. They are afraid of automation, controllers, and computers because they think they can't do it.
In those nightmares, I wake up screaming with visions of PROP-1 controllers gathering dust in back closets.
This page is devoted to examining why computer programming is considered brainiac stuff, and why anybody really can program.
A computer is a very fast, very dumb slave that does exactly what you tell it to do. The creation of this list of instructions is the act of programming.
The program is written in a special computer "language". There are many different computer languages, with names like COBOL and RUBY. The Prop-1 uses a version of BASIC.
This language is easy to learn, and you only need to learn a little bit of the language in order to control most automated props.
Depending on your skills and dedication,
you might become a great computer programmer.
But you don't have to become great to have fun programming.
You don't have to be a great programmer to make something that works.
Although there is much science to programming, it is also an art.
A really great programmer is an artist.
And you don't have to becoma a programming artist either.
You just have to make something that works.
And it's easier than you might think.
But just because some people specialize doesn't keep everybody else from participating.
But not everybody is a professional race car driver.
All the rest of us get around quite well, thank you!
We still drive.
We're just a little slower.
We are a little less agile.
Perhaps we take fewer risks.
Anybody who really wants to can learn to drive a car.
Anybody who really wants to can learn to program.
But not everybody is a professional poet.
All the rest of us could make up a poem.
It's easy!
I guess I better not quit my day job, eh?
Not the greatest poetry you've ever read.
But they are poems.
I could crank out stuff like that all day long.
Loads of poetry that is ... um ... weak.
It won't get me rich.
It won't make me famous.
But it is poetry.
Anybody who really wants to can write a little poem.
Anybody who really wants to can learn to program.
Yes, there are professional chess players who make their living by out-thinking other
chess masters and even out-thinking computers.
They study hard, practice their art, and are darned good at
playing the game.
But other people play chess, too - even little kids.
Some people study chess all their lives and get fairly good at the game, but will never become masters.
But they don't need to be chess masters to enjoy the game.
And neither do kids.
Anybody who really wants to can learn to play chess.
Anybody who really wants to can learn to program.
Is It Hard?
Anybody can write a program and get it to produce some results.
Anybody can master the basics of programming.
Not All Of Us Are Professionals
Everything that humans do has specialists in the field.
Like Driving A Car - Not Everybody Is A Professional Racer
Yes, there are professional race car drivers.
They study hard, practice hard, and are darned good at driving a car under race track conditions.
Like Writing Poetry - Not Everybody Is Shakespeare
Yes, there are professional poets.
They study hard, practice their art, and are darned good at
churning out sonnets, haiku, and other literary gems.
Roses are red.
Not good enough?
Let's try another:
Violets a blue.
Your papa is ugly
And so are you!
Hamsters are nice.
Hamsters are happy.
If you want a hamster,
Go ask your Pappy!
Like Playing Chess - Not Everybody Is A Grand Master
Chess is often thought of as a game for heavy thinkers.
The basic rules are simple and easy to learn.
You can learn all the rules in just a few minutes.
You could play and win your first game within an hour of seeing a chess board for the first time.
But it takes years to master chess.