SlashNOT

Matthew writes: A controversial new program funded by the Gates Foundation to teach safe programming practices in high school is meeting resistance from conservative family groups. The program, designed to instill a sense of safety in programming conventions while coders are still in their youth, is being implemented in pilot programs around the country.

“We’re a Python family. They’re teaching safe C++ coding. Frankly, I don’t want my son programming in C++. It’s a dangerous language, fraught with poorly thought out compiler directives, dangling pointers, and unsafe optimizations. The only safe way to code in C++ is not to code in C++.” Says a concerned parent.

“A firewall isn’t always going to protect you.” Says another. “Kids these days have to realize that secure coding is about checking input buffers, avoiding library routines like strcpy() that are known to be insecure, and choosing a safe language in the first place. I’m just not sure that schools are really the right place to talk about code security.”

Kids tended to disagree with their parents, however. “I’m totally excited about this safe programming course.” Say one. “I’ve been wanting to try out gcc, but I was afraid that my code would pick up a virus or a Trojan or something. Now I feel like I’ll be able to program without being afraid of being attacked by some kind of exploit in the wild.”