In recent years, the field of computer science has seemingly exploded in popularity. Taken alongside the growth of the Digital Humanities field, it seems everyone I know knows how to code in at least one language. So, in what seems to be the road less traveled, I must say that I do not think all humanities students should learn to code. This is with the caveat that I have no issue with the premise of learning to code in general. It is more so that I do not think that coding experience is necessary to the broad study of humanities, and as such should not be an expectation for scholars who may have no interest in, affinity for, or connection to coding and the broader computer sciences.
In his article, “Hello Worlds (why humanities students should learn to program),” Matthew Kirschenbaum writes that
“Clearly the distinction between what’s on the screen (or page) and what lies beneath is beginning to disappear, as computer languages seep into the visible, legible spaces in which we read.”
Matthew Kirschenbaum, “Hello Worlds”
His overall argument is that because the gap between the humanities and computer sciences is shrinking, it is necessary that humanities students become familiar with coding processes and languages. Only by having this “procedural literacy,” he writes, can students critically engage with virtual worlds. I disagree, and thus fall into the camp outlined by Evan Donahue in his response to Kirschbaum, “A “Hello World” Apart (why humanities students should NOT learn to program).” Donahue clarifies in his introduction, and I agree, that
“While programming will indeed usefully equip one better to understand computer scientific discourses, it should NOT be taken as the necessary precondition to engaging with the computer sciences…”
Evan Donahue, “A “Hello World” Apart”
Donahue goes on to say that because the goal of natural language processing (NLP) is to understand and model language in ways that allow users to recognize information and communicate, the use of NLP is “largely legible…to anyone from the humanities, with or without the ability to program.” In addition to my belief that understanding how to code is unnecessary for much of humanities scholarship, and that an expectation of coding knowledge can be alienating, I agree with Donahue’s argument that even without a coding background, the general practices and characteristics of coding languages are essentially understandable.
This has proven true in my own experience. Prior to this week’s lab, in which I completed beginning tutorials for HTML and CSS, I had essentially no coding experience. I had worked briefly with Python during an introductory Astronomy course, but had no experience generating my own code. Even given this, and with the brief instructions provided by HTML Dog, I was able to easily understand the basic structures, vocabulary, and formatting requirements of HTML and CSS, as shown in the code sample below. Admittedly, I have not experimented with especially complicated code, however I believe that the point stands. Given that code is legible for those without computer science backgrounds, that it is unnecessary to many avenues of humanistic study, and that the expectation of coding knowledge can be inequitable, I argue that all humanities students should not have to learn to code.
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<title>My first web page</title>
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<h1> This is a lovely beginner sample of code</h1>
<h2>But what is it for?</h2>
<p>While knowing how to code can certainly be useful, I find that understanding the logic behind code development and processes (at least at this level) is fairly self-explanatory. Therefore,</p>
<ol>
<li>Humanities scholars <em>should not</em> have to learn how to code.</li>
<li>Coding should not be presented as a necessary skill for humanities scholars, and particularly those not involved in Digital Humanities projects.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Why?</h2>
<ul>
<li>It is not a necessary skill for many humanities projects and therefore shouldn't be an expected skill for all humanities scholars.</li>
<li>If a scholar does not know how to code and is exposed to a coding project, the processes are logical enough to not require intimate coding knowledge.</li>
<li>Requiring humanities scholars to know how to code can alienate those scholars who do not have an affinity for or desire to engage in the computer science field.</li>
</body>
</html>