> I think they're also shoehorning their experiences.
Yup, agreed. I first learned to program in the late 80s (when I was around 7 or 8 years old) using BASIC, and my first part-time programming job in college was a mix of C and Java. All of my EE and CS programming coursework was done in C, C++, or (pre-generics!) Java.
It is really hard for me to put my feet in the shoes of someone who switched careers in their 20s or 30s by joining a bootcamp that teaches node, HTML, and CSS, and helps them find web dev jobs.
Their journey is so different from mine that I have very little ability to guess as to what should be easy or hard for them to do as they grow in their career.
Having said that, I still do believe that everyone who wants to write code should learn about static typing eventually, and the sooner they're introduced to the concept, the easier it will be for them to integrate it into their mental model of how software works.
I switched careers at 33 (currently 35) from structural engineering to a full stack JS career after attending a bootcamp.
Reading your comment, I wish I was in the former group of learning to code early on, taking CS and SE courses in university, etc... I work feverishly to learn as much as I possibly can about networking, Linux, hardware, SQL, etc.. along with all the JS related topics I need to learn for my job.
I just wanted to add to the conversation by saying that there are people in the later group who really want to become well rounded and not just be JS developers.
Yup, agreed. I first learned to program in the late 80s (when I was around 7 or 8 years old) using BASIC, and my first part-time programming job in college was a mix of C and Java. All of my EE and CS programming coursework was done in C, C++, or (pre-generics!) Java.
It is really hard for me to put my feet in the shoes of someone who switched careers in their 20s or 30s by joining a bootcamp that teaches node, HTML, and CSS, and helps them find web dev jobs.
Their journey is so different from mine that I have very little ability to guess as to what should be easy or hard for them to do as they grow in their career.
Having said that, I still do believe that everyone who wants to write code should learn about static typing eventually, and the sooner they're introduced to the concept, the easier it will be for them to integrate it into their mental model of how software works.