For specific discussions of programming and broader discussions of machines and technology, there are of course a number of excellent books and articles that might have been assigned. As we discuss Ullman's book, then, let's think about its relation to several literatures:1. The mid-life reflection.
Ullman's opening and Dante's "Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura ché la diritta via era smarrita."?2. Post-Netscape commentaries on the "digital life."
"We are moving away from a hard-line mode of teaching that caters primarily to compulsive, serialist children, toward one that is more porous and draws no lines between art or science or right brain or left brain. ... Ten years from now, teenagers are likely to enjoy a much richer panorama of options because the pursuit of intellectual achievement will not be tilted in favor of bookworms but cater to a range of expressive tastes." (Nicholas Negroponte, from "Digital Expression," in Wired 2.12 (December, 1994))"Instead of the dense and chewy content a local culture develops over many generations to serve its particular survival needs, there is only the sugary-sweet, brightly colored gosamer-light content of the global village -- Coke is it." (Bill McKibben, from The Age of Missing Information (1992))
3. Treatises on the theme of "Man and Machines"
"Machinery has been applied to all work and carried to such perfection that little is left for the men but to mind the engines and feed the furnaces. But the machines require punctual service, and as they never tire they prove too much for their tenders. Mines, forges, mills, breweries, railroads, steam-pump, steam-plough, drill of regiments, drill of police, rule of court and shop-rule are operated to give a mechanical regularity to all the habit and action of men. A terrible machine has possessed itself of the ground, the air, the men and the women, and hardly even thought is free." (Emerson, from English Traits (1856))"4. We declare that the world's wonder has been enriched by a fresh beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car with its trunk adorned by great exhaust pipes like snakes with an explosive breath ... a roaring car that seems to be driving under shrapnel, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace." (F. T. Marinetti, from "Manifesto of Futurism" (1909))
4. Theories of technology.
- "instrumental" theories about the use of technology in the service of politics, institutions, ideologies, etc.
- "substantive theories about the power of technology to appropriate, subsume or determine politics, institutions, and ideologies.
5. The perils and power of programming computers.
- The thrill of the successful program.
- The dilemmas of the ephemerality, or inherent disposability, of the technique.