I'm reading htdp and am about half-way through it. After I plan on getting into Racket. I've programmed a bit before years ago. A little python, a little c, a little matlab. This time I want to really get into it. I like s-expressions a lot. Many people have suggested reading SICP. It's supposed to make you a "better programmer". What does that actually mean though? Does it mean being able to do more things, or make more things? Are they necessarily the same?
I want to make things, the kind of things that are fun and useful even for people with no knowledge of computer science. GUI stuff, pretty pictures on the screen. Is that bad? Isn't programming to make things and programming as an intellectual exercise different goals? As an intellectual exercise, does computer science even need programming computers. Wouldn't getting really into math or something be even better for that purpose? Within "hacker culture", it seems like there's something contradictory within it.
If there was an ai that could program anything you tell it to and the end result is exactly what you wanted without you having to write a single line of code, would something be lost?