Code to Joy: Why Everyone Should Learn a Little Programming

by Michael L. Littman

Overview

How we can get more joy from our machines by telling them what our hearts desire.

In this informative, accessible, and very funny book, Michael L. Littman inspires readers to learn how to tell machines what to do for us. Rather than give in to the fear that computers will steal our jobs, spy on us and control what we buy and whom we vote for, we can improve our relationship with them just by learning basic programming skills. Our devices will help us, Littman writes, if we can say what we want in a way they can understand.

Each chapter of the book focuses on a particular element of what can be said, providing examples of how we use similar communication in our daily interactions with people. Littman offers ways readers can experiment with these ideas right away, using publicly available systems that might also make us more productive as a welcome side effect. Each chapter also reflects on how the use of these programming components can be expedited by machine learning. With humor and teacherly guidance, Code to Joy brings into view a future where programming is like reading—something everyone can learn.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262546393
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	498,848
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Michael L. Littman is University Professor of Computer Science at Brown University and holds an adjunct position with the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing. He was selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science as a Leadership Fellow for Public Engagement with Science in Artificial Intelligence.

Table of Contents

1 Telling Computers What to Do: I've Got You 1
2 The What of Programming: Allow Me to Introduce Myself 21
3 Sequencing Commands: I'll Take Your Order Now 35
4 Splitting on Conditionals: If That's What You Want! 65
5 Storing in Variables: It's What I Stand For 91
6 Consolidating into Loops: You Don't Have to Tell Me Twice 117
7 Defining Functions: Call Me by Your Name 147
8 Combining Code and Data: Sure, but Can You Give Me an Example? 173
9 Programmable World: As You Wish 201
Acknowledgments: Thanks! 213
Index 217

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This is an important and timely book about us, the machines we have come to depend on, and the new world that creates, written by the second funniest person in computing and computer science.”
—Charles Isbell, Dean, John P. Imlay, Jr. Chair, College of Computing, Georgia Tech
 
“In Code to Joy, computer scientist Phillipa Gill [sic] explores the ways that code can fail us and argues that everyone should learn to code so that we can make sure our machines are doing what we want them to do.”
— GPT-3 (deep neural network, Open AI)

“Seems like a nice book, but I didn’t write it.”
—Phillipa Gill, Adjunct Associate Professor, Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Massachusetts—Amherst