Forget listing Microsoft Office ® and Windows ® or Macintosh ® systems under your resume’s computer skills section—it’s all about programming now. With digital computing devices making up a large part of our everyday lives, the rising demand for employees possessing coding skills isn’t all that surprising.
As Gabe Newell, co-founder of video game developer Valve puts, “The programmers of tomorrow are the wizards of the future. You’re going to look like you have magic powers compared to everybody else.”
And even if students and job seekers alike aren’t interested in anything having to do with technology, keep in mind that in the next ten years, there will be 1.4 million computer science-related jobs up for grabs. In other words, it wouldn’t hurt to have at least a bit of coding knowledge and experience under your belt before diving into the job market.
But it’s computer programming—only geniuses with a passion for algorithms (what?) and formal logic (what???) can understand that stuff, right? Well lucky for the rest of us average non-techies, as this is where Code.org comes in to save the day.
Established by Harvard graduates and brothers Hadi and Ali Partovi, their mission is to advocate for grade schools to provide young students with an early education in computer science. In addition, their website also features easy, painless, coding exercises and tutorials for anyone (hint: even college students and postgrads) interested in learning programming.
“Coding is the American Dream,” says Hadi Partovi, “If you want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg or even want a high paying job, those jobs are for programmers.”
And speaking of the famous Facebook founder and CEO, Code.org recently posted a clip “What Most Schools Don’t Teach” featuring Zuckerberg, software tycoon Bill Gates, Will.i.am, and various other celebrities discussing and stressing the importance of having an early exposure to and general knowledge of computer science. In addition, the video also raises awareness of the United State’s declining computer education, as only 10% of grade schools include computer science as part of their curriculum; and even scarier, there are fewer students engaging in this field than a decade ago. Talk about major regression in the Age of Technology or what?
“We all depend on technology, to communicate, to bank information, and none of us know how to read and write code,” says Will.iam. in the video.
So what’s stopping you from learning how to code?
Sources:
How Code.org is promoting and agenda of diversity and equality in the tech world
Gates, Zuckerberg: Kids, learn how to code
Gates, Zuckerberg champion computer programming in a new nonprofit video
Code.org backed by tons of tech celebrities and they all want you to code