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Ellis Abel Learns.

In my own words

Why I love computers

Long rows of black cabinets housing the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Computers" page.
Long rows of black cabinets housing the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation. NASA/Pat Izzo · Public domain
  • It does exactly what I say. Even when I say it wrong.
  • It never gets tired of trying again.
  • I can build a whole world inside it.

What it really is

A computer follows instructions perfectly and has no idea what you meant.

Three things to try today

  1. Give someone instructions to make a sandwich. Follow them exactly.
  2. Find the step you left out.
  3. Fix the step. Try again.
Students at the Swarmathon competition work at laptops to program small wheeled robots searching for tagged cubes. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Computers" page.
Students at the Swarmathon competition work at laptops to program small wheeled robots searching for tagged cubes. NASA · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

The sandwich exercise teaches specification. It is the single best pre-coding activity there is.

Why I love computers — 4,299 places across America

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Love something else too

Two small AstroPi Raspberry Pi computers with camera modules floating in the Columbus laboratory of the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Coding" page.Why I love codingA close-up of one row of the Discover supercomputer, showing about 2,000 processors stacked in cabinets with cabling. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Data" page.Why I love dataThe Robonaut 2 humanoid robot, with a gold-visored head and two jointed arms, mounted inside the Destiny laboratory of the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Robotics" page.Why I love robotsThe tracked crawler-transporter carries a mobile launcher platform and twin solid rocket boosters along the crawlerway toward Launch Pad 39A. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Engineering" page.Why I love engineeringThe International Space Station with its newly attached Destiny laboratory, photographed from space shuttle Atlantis above a cloud-covered Earth. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Space" page.Why I love spaceA Hubble Space Telescope view of the faint blue spiral galaxy NGC 3274 surrounded by scattered stars on a black background. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Astronomy" page.Why I love starsA Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off from its launch pad, trailing a bright orange exhaust plume. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Rockets" page.Why I love rocketsNASA's long-nosed X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft flies over the California desert alongside an F/A-18 chase plane. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Planes" page.Why I love planes

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