You should learn to code. Here’s why.
Coding, stripped-down to its core, is basically writing instructions for a computer to follow. This tossed around umbrella-term can be confusing at the beginning for someone who isn’t familiar with software. Is this code? This? Or maybe this? It might be hard to grasp at first, but just about anything that is written to perform a computational operation, is code. And there are aspects of the coding industry that are exceptional for any individual to have in today’s society. Recently, I worked on a team-project around a non-profit called Asylum|Human Rights First, where some of the industry standards highlight, and have allowed me to realize why coding (and the coding industry) is awesome. This because it is a high demand career, improves your communication skills and requires constant learning.
High Demand Career
During my time working in the HRF project, my team and I had to take an existing codebase and add some new functionalities the stakeholder was asking us for. Along the way, our team faced many challenges, where it was crucial for us to communicate and document things properly. Today, what tech-recruiters are looking for, yes of course, people who know how to code, but most importantly people that can work with a team and communicate properly. Having these qualities can make you an outstanding candidate, hence the increasing popularity of certifications like SCRUM or PMI, which emphasizes the importance of agile environments.
Improves Communication Skills
To work on an agile environment means, sprint goals, daily stand-ups and sprint retrospectives are highly important. While working on any project during my journey at Lambda, we ensured our highest priority was to communicate accurately with others to get things done to the best of our ability. Working with others involves developing something with different points of view, ideas and skills. Communicating efficiently, this being, with radical truth and transparency, I have found the most efficient, by words of Ray Dalio.
Constant Learning
When it comes to learning, the programming industry is really never-ending. My path so far has made me realize, that no matter how much you know, there will always be something you don’t. In web development, whether it is a new feature, framework, or firework, there will always be room for improvement. In computer science, making an algorithm faster or reducing space-complexity. There is truly no end to ‘coding’ and that is one of the fascinating reasons of why I am in love with it. Having a background in chess and cubing, learning to learn I would say is perhaps the most important skill to have in life. I would encourage anyone to pick up this amazing skill that is coding, whether it is to switch careers, improve your communication skills or even create just a simple video-game yourself.