No, Seriously, Why Should I Learn to Code?
No, Seriously, Why Should I Learn to Code? This post first appeared on http://inventwithpython.com/ The geeks have inherited the earth. A couple decades ago if you talked with friends in a chat room, you were cast as a socially-awkward nerd. Doing the same today just means you're a typical Facebook user. Broadband Internet connections and smartphones have taken the Information Age that technically started in the 1970s with PCs and pushed it into daily mainstream life. Along with this culture change is a social anxiety: Should I learn to code? Is coding the new literacy? Will I program or be programmed? This is not a new anxiety. Here's a New York Times article, Personal Computers; Does Everyone Need to Learn Programming? It was written in 1984. Like with all panics, entrepreneurs and pundits (including myself) come out of the woodwork to offer their opinions or push their products. Software developer Jeff Atwood gives a plea to not learn how to code (a position I sharply disa...