Alan Perlis, a pioneer in computer science education in the last half of the 20th century, said that coding at a keyboard is an unnatural act. We must find an alternative.

My model for the software artisan is the potter at her wheel. She has her hands directly on the working material. In the ideal state, she is "in the zone," and there is a silent conversation going on between her brain and the working material of which she is barely conscious; this looks like a child fully engaged with a construction toy.