A critical book review of Annette Vee's "Coding Literacy: How Computer Programming Is Changing Writing" (2017) argues the book fails to deliver on its subtitle, spending most of its pages on the academic history of literacy and illiteracy rather than examining how coding actually changes writing and thought. The reviewer praises the historical material as genuinely interesting but faults the near-total absence of actual code examples, missed opportunities to explore how syntax and keyboard layouts shape programmer thinking, and repeated retreats into abstract academic debates (Wittgenstein vs. Chomsky). Some historical quotes, like a 1961 prediction that programming languages would soon become unnecessary, are noted as eerily resonant with today's LLM-assisted coding. Final verdict: 2.5 stars.
