> At my old school (which was private), we were required to learn a programming language, and we didn't have a choice - it was chosen for us. Therefore, we ended up learning Pascal. Yes, a very old, antiquated programming language. It was fun, though, I guess... And the kids from 5th grade and below are required to know PC Logo, which isn't exactly a programming language (from when we learned it), but apparently it is. I've been trying to learn other programming languages, but I haven't found either the time or people to teach me (even though my dad's a computer engineer). The point of this is, I'm under 20 and while I know how to program, the "two" languages I know how to program are hardly ever used anymore. Therefore, I think that there's a difference between knowing how to program and knowing how to work a computer. Two very different things, considering that it depends on whether or not you actually have the equipment to learn either.
>

I'm in that 20-30 year old window. Here's the history of my computer programming education:

In elementary school we learned to use Logo, on some very old (at the time) Apple IIc and IIe computers.

I picked up some rudimentary BASIC somewhere along the line, and that allowed me to test out of my high school's ridiculous mandatory BASIC class. They told us what they were going to teach, and I remember not finding it terribly advanced at the time.

Then I went to CEGEP, which is a Quebec thing. Two years of almost university-like classes between 11th grade and a 3 year B.Sc. When I got there, all science majors had to take a mandatory computer course. The first one that fit into my schedule was "Accounting by Computer", which was basically a zeroth-year accounting course, and the "computer" part was learning to use ACCPAC to punch in numbers.

Then, still in CEGEP, I took a course in C that would have counted as my computer credit if I didn't already have one. This was the only time I learned (and subsequently forgot) any real programming, but most of that came from my ultranerd friends and classmates.

My C came in handy only once - when I did some computer-based research after my B.Sc. and the program I inherited was in *gasp* Fortran 77. It was like a Spanish speaker trying to learn Portuguese. I must have programmed Fortran 77 with a strong C accent.

So there you have it. Logo, BASIC, C and Fortran 77. What a productive life of programming I've had.

^v^:)^v^
FB