Will Online Learning Disrupt Programming Language Adoption?

theodp writes "Back in the day, getting traction for a new programming language was next to impossible. First, one needed a textbook publishing deal. Then, one needed a critical mass of CS profs across the country to convince their departments that your language was worth teaching at the university level. And after that, one still needed a critical mass of students to agree it was worth spending their time and tuition to learn your language. Which probably meant that one needed a critical mass of corporations to agree they wanted their employees to use your language. It was a tall order that took years if one was lucky, and only some languages — FORTRAN, PL/I, C, Java, and Python come to mind — managed to succeed on all of these fronts. But that was then, this is now. Whip up some online materials, and you can kiss your textbook publishing worries goodbye. Manage to convince just one of the new Super Profs at Udacity or Coursera to teach your programming language, and they can reach 160,000 students with just one free, not-for-credit course. And even if the elite Profs turn up their nose at your creation, upstarts like Khan Academy or Code Academy can also deliver staggering numbers of students in a short time. In theory, widespread adoption of a new programming language could be achieved in weeks instead of years or decades, piquing employers' interest. So, could we be on the verge of a programming language renaissance? Or will the status quo somehow manage to triumph?"

For Fuck's Sake

[MightyMartian]

For fucks sake, stop with the thinly veiled advertising. We're talking about a huge penetration of languages like C, C++, Java and Perl and the like which are still going to require people capable of coding in them. This fucking online Khan Academy crap isn't going to change that, and I'll wager you dollars to donuts the whole fucking thing will collapse under the weight of insanely over-hyped promises and gimmicks.

Re:This is bunk

[moderatorrater]

Python. That's a language that's being driven by developer adoption, not businesses or schools. Using it as an example of traditional success is ridiculous.