This is how you represent numbers as a series of light switches. The number of "bits" is how many digits you see on the counter. For example, old keyboards used to have a ribbon with 8 wires representing an 8-bit number, or (alternatively) a specific combination of the 8 different "switches", can actually represent one of 256 different and unique "keys" pressed on the keyboard. These unique "keys" would represent 0, 1, ... !, @, #, ... a, b, c ... A, B, C ... INS, RETURN, ... etc.
I don't even want to argue about binary any more because I was just playing devils advocate. Kids don't start on C++ any more. Which is good. C++ (specifically all the Bjorne Stroustrop plusplus stuff) sucks. as a programming language. If you wanna argue against Logo, that's what I had to learn on. And Basic and assembly. Most C compilers cost money at that time. Even the free assembler for x86 was limited shareware. (I owe that guy a donation BTW. I wonder where he is.)
I don't see that as a good thing. Later students were more pure starting from math and MATLAB doing science work moving on to programmer work. Some of them became great programmers while NOT learning at 5 years old. They learned it by the book.
bonghits4jeebus 0 points 6 months ago
I don't even want to argue about binary any more because I was just playing devils advocate. Kids don't start on C++ any more. Which is good. C++ (specifically all the Bjorne Stroustrop plusplus stuff) sucks. as a programming language. If you wanna argue against Logo, that's what I had to learn on. And Basic and assembly. Most C compilers cost money at that time. Even the free assembler for x86 was limited shareware. (I owe that guy a donation BTW. I wonder where he is.)
I don't see that as a good thing. Later students were more pure starting from math and MATLAB doing science work moving on to programmer work. Some of them became great programmers while NOT learning at 5 years old. They learned it by the book.