A skill everyone needs

We live in world that is becoming more dependent on computers and technology.  Even jobs that were once done without their aid, have become reliant on computers. PC World writes “...IT skills are lurking outside the lab and server room, within administrative, finance, and human-resources departments. Taking that into account, IT workers have grown from 2 percent of the workforce 17 years ago to 15 percent today..”

This number will only continue to rise. It has become increasingly important that professions, that at one point had very little to do with computers, learn some basic coding skills to stay competitive in their fields, it will also enable them to be better problem solvers in today's ever changing environment.

Let me give you an example I ran into last week; I was sitting in my HTML class, and a fellow student, John, shared his difficulty in finding a job as an artist. He is very, very talented at what he does, and his prospective employers agreed. The reason John continues to get passed over is simple, he does not know how to code websites. Hiring managers would rather get a less qualified artist that can design their website, then a very gifted artist that cannot code.

On a more personal note, my wife, Camila, runs several online clothing shops for little girls. She has had to pay someone to create and maintain her website because she is unable to to write her own code. This forces Camila to pay out of her profits each month for website maintenance.

 

Douglas Rushkoff argues why everyone needs to learn how to code

Douglas Rushkoff argues in the video above about the necessity to learn to program solely on the basis of keeping our right to self expression.  If we do not learn how to understand what is going on in the background, we will simply be taken advantage of by those who do.  I agree with him.  Sites such as Facebook have given us an outlet to express ourselves, on the surface, but as pointed it out, it solely exists as a way to monetize our friendships.

Blogger Jeff Atwood argues a compelling counterpoint "To those who argue programming is an essential skill we should be teaching our children, right up there with reading, writing, and arithmetic: can you explain to me how Michael Bloomberg would be better at his day to day job of leading the largest city in the USA if he woke up one morning as a crack Java coder? It is obvious to me how being a skilled reader, a skilled writer, and at least high school level math are fundamental to performing the job of a politician. Or at any job, for that matter. But understanding variables and functions, pointers and recursion? I can't see it...[The everyone should learn to code movement is wrong because] it puts the method before the problem. Before you go rushing out to learn to code, figure out what your problem actually is. Do you even have a problem? Can you explain it to others in a way they can understand? Have you researched the problem, and its possible solutions, deeply? Does coding solve that problem? Are you sure?"

Mr. Atwood is right in that learning to code, merely for the sake of coding, adds no quality to life, and would certainly not add anything of value to Mayor Bloomberg's ability to run New York City on it's own merit. However, I believe he is too extreme in his opinion. On a personal level, it would enable him, as it would anyone else, to better understand the workings of his computer, and how to better realize its full potential to his benefit. Blogger, Nat Garun, adds "Learning to code contains the same logic skills you apply in daily life: What is the problem? How can I solve the problem as efficiently as possible? Can my solution be helpful to others who are experiencing similar issues? If you can figure out the same steps from a programming perspective, it can help develop your logic and decision making skills to streamline the best solution to your problems. It’s not just about creating something out of a weird language, it’s learning to think like a programmer."

We have examined both practical reasons why people should learn to program, in their professions, and to further their self expression, and simple problem solving skills.  As computers become more and more a way of life, understanding how the work and how to use them is paramount.  As Douglas Rushkoff argues, those that do not learn how to program, will be the victims of those that do.