From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Barry Margolin Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: Emacs history, and "Is Emacs difficult to learn?" Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 17:19:15 -0400 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Message-ID: References: <87y58pplcp.fsf@VLAN-3434.student.uu.se> <87fvuwgsv0.fsf@VLAN-3434.student.uu.se> <075751cf-97a3-4d01-8fb1-4ffbc0180f3f@googlegroups.com> <878v0oxfdw.fsf@VLAN-3434.student.uu.se> <87a9l4rs76.fsf@VLAN-3434.student.uu.se> NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1375219226 22204 80.91.229.3 (30 Jul 2013 21:20:26 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 21:20:26 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Tue Jul 30 23:20:26 2013 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1V4HLF-0006AN-Um for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Tue, 30 Jul 2013 23:20:26 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:33301 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1V4HLF-00062B-FS for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Tue, 30 Jul 2013 17:20:25 -0400 Original-Path: usenet.stanford.edu!news.kjsl.com!feeder.erje.net!us.feeder.erje.net!news2.arglkargh.de!newsfeed.fsmpi.rwth-aachen.de!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!barmar.motzarella.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help Original-Lines: 39 Injection-Info: barmar.motzarella.org; posting-host="2be9e9f5dd9af768b8861af71b85fc28"; logging-data="20128"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19QtaI3fYfYEeVe4Dsgg1l5" User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.5.3b3 (Intel Mac OS X) Cancel-Lock: sha1:BPxXCNcUKTUbAy8xEcF2yMCA0S4= Original-Xref: usenet.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:200300 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:92567 Archived-At: In article <87a9l4rs76.fsf@VLAN-3434.student.uu.se>, Emanuel Berg wrote: > Stefan Monnier writes: > > >> depends on how you use spreadsheets. Summing a column is not > >> programming, but yes, there is a second page, or sheet, to > >> spreadsheets. You can also put "IF" expressions in cells. > > > > Same as "writing (setq smie-indent-basic 8)" is not programming, > > indeed. > > No, but that is not the Elisp of Emacs I speak of, when I speak of > the Elisp of Emacs. That's just an interface, albeit a good one, > to specify settings. The very first program I wrote was a BASIC program that was just a bunch of PRINT statements, to make some simple ASCII art (it was the command insignia from ST:TOS). Was I not programming, just because it was a simple, linear set of statements? I "taught" the computer to do something it couldn't previously do. I know it was trivial, but you have to start somewhere. I think that almost anything that tells the computer to perform a set of operations can be considered programming. Some programs are more complex than others, and some programmers have more skills and know how to make the computer jump through more hoops. It's like many other skills. If someone only knows how to play "Chopsticks" on the piano, they're still making music. They're not going to get hired as a professional musician, though. -- Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***