A lot of people who don’t know anything about programming gets easily intimidated especially when they heard the word “programming”. The very first thing that they think about is… you require to be a genius to learn it or you need to be a mathematician to learn it.
But the truth is… You really don’t. You just need to be determined like how you are too determined to workout. It’s just the same!
Programming is everywhere. Literally, everything we use is programmed. Do you want to travel to another country? There is a plane programmed to fly. You got no cash but you got a credit card? There are ATM machines programmed to spit cash. Do you want to shop online? There is amazon. Almost everything we see is programmed by a programmer.
Why learn programming?
So, why you should learn how to program? Well, today we’ll be giving you 8 reasons why YOU or everyone should learn how to code or program.
1. Teaches you how to solve problems
Do you know that famous line by Steve Jobs? The “Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer… because it teaches you how to think.”? Yes. This one is a fact.
You see, the main purpose of writing code or programming is to solve problems. Remember the time when we have to walk staircases just to go from one floor to another? That’s been solved by making elevators and escalators. Remember when we have to use ravens to send messages? Yeah…
The point is… When you start learning how to code, your problem-solving skills become better and it’ll get much better the more you do it.
2. Makes you more creative
Programming is like poetry or writing a book. You write codes that are different from what other programmers are writing.
Like what we have mentioned earlier, programming is all about problem-solving, and problems can be solved in a lot of ways and that can make you creative by finding a different solution to the problem.
3. Gives you many opportunities
When you become a programmer, there will be a ton of opportunities waiting for you especially at this moment where technology keeps on rising.
Everyone needs a programmer. Who do you think created the apps that we’re using on our phones? Programmers. Who do you think wrote this article that you’re reading? A programmer. Who do you think made me? A prog- wait…
4. Helps you work with others
When you’re a programmer, no matter what you do, you will always end up working with other programmers (or even with people who don’t know programming).
That’s the whole point of programming right? To solve other’s problems. When others get a problem, you help them. When you get a problem, they help you (I hope). If they don’t help you then there’s stack overflow or GitHub, always waiting for you.
5. It can make you look at things differently
Make you look at things differently? What do we mean by that? Well, when you start learning how to code, you tend to become this kind of person that is curious. You start to ask questions like “how do they make this text bigger? I bet they use CSS” or “How did Google know that I was talking about shoes with my friends? Bet they’re spying on me”.
How is this a good thing you say? Well, when you become this kind of person, you start to do more research and when you do more research, you get more knowledge and when you get more knowledge, you can create more programs. That’s great right? Well, congratulations, you’ve just become one of us.
6. You are paid well
This is the most popular reason why people want to become a programmer. If you’re not aware, IT or computer engineers are one of the highest paying jobs in the entire world. A computer engineer can earn up to $11,721.92/month! That salary data is taken from glassdoor.com and that should be your salary if you work for Google.
7. To change the world
This is, I believe, one of the most known reasons why people start learning how to program. To change the world or to make people’s lives easier. Look at Mark Zuckerberg. He developed the biggest web application that allows people to communicate with one another, Facebook.
You know what they say, programming is the closest thing to magic. With magic, you can do the impossible. With codes, you can do anything. You can change the world, or you can destroy it. It’s all up to you.
If you learn how to code, no matter what you say, you will always end up creating something that could change the world and that’s the truth.
8. It’s fun and enjoyable
It’s true that programming can be intimidating but once you started learning how to code, you will realize that it’s not actually that bad or boring. In fact, it’s fun and enjoyable because there’s too many things to do.
In my own experience, whenever I write codes, it feels like I’m creating a gift for someone that I care. It feels like I’m playing video games and my weapons are my codes and the monsters are the bugs and errors. Yeah, it’s cringey right? But regardless, coding is fun and you will learn a lot from it.
Recommended books to read
If you think you’re up for the task to learn how to become a programmer, then I suggest picking at least one of these books:
These books are great especially if you’re just starting. One of my favorites is the Clean Code. It will teach you how to structure your codes properly. This will help you a lot especially if your projects are getting bigger so as much as possible, learn how to write clean codes.
Conclusion
Learning how to program is like learning how to ride a bike. The difference is, with a bike, you will get only scratches on your skin but with programming, not only you will keep scratching your head, but you will also have nightmares about code errors. #relatable #helloworld
