a number of articles have shown up recently, discussing the contribution that various languages, techniques and concepts can make to your programming expertise.  However, while I feel that there is merit in each of these ideas, they’ve missed the big one:  ______

______ represents the core of programming, the gist, if you will, of what it means to think about and write meaningful software.  ______ provides you with the right mindset to solve problems, detect errors and, even more importantly, avoid putting errors in your software in the first place.  ______ provides a metaphor for programming that you can use your entire career.

But you don’t have to take my word for it.  There is lots of information out there about ______, and there are a lot of famously smart people who have written about ______.   They’ve had much success, and in fact, often discuss how ______ was critical to their progress as a programmer.  If they were successful using ______, I’m sure you will be too!

Like most things in life, ______ is easy to understand at first, but when you start to get into the details,  you discover that ______ is far, far richer than you had originally thought, and demands a lot more careful scrutiny than you first realized.  Moments to learn, a lifetime to master.   This is the secret of ______ – it is the journey that will give you a lifetime of good habits and strong discipline.

IMO, without a doubt, ______ has contributed heavily to the existing software industry, which, by recent accounting, represents about 7% of our overall economy.  Without ______, I’m certain that software would not be nearly so significant in our lives, and we would all be poorer for it.

Give ______ a try – it is easily available, with lots of support out there, if you know where to look for it.

and I promise you that, some years from now, when you look back at your career, and the successes you have had, you will realize the contribution ______ has made to your prosperity and happiness.