Why you should learn how to code in 2024
New Year, New me. Reinvent yourself as the passionate programmer you were always meant to become. Whether you’re a tech person or the complete opposite, let me convince you that 2024 should be the year to fall down the programming rabbit hole.
Let me start by saying that I wasn’t always passionate with coding. Far from it.
In fact, I fell in love with it quite a few years into starting my studies in computer science.
What changed ? I stopped seeing code as languages to learn, patterns to memorize, and complicated jargon that would fly way over my head, reserved for some kind of tech mastery elite in dark hoodies with 5 monitors.
I started seeing coding as a mean to solve problems. There are strategies to it, different approaches, languages, and of course it’s the kind of skill you get better at with time and exercise. But it’s. So. Fun.
With this simple switch in perspective, my future job became the perspective of playing a game of professor Layton all day and getting payed for it.
But why should YOU learn how to code ?
Because it’s not as hard as the movies make it seem
Now sure, you probably won’t build the next Facebook after a 3 week bootcamp, nor will you be able to make governmental organizations shiver in their boots with your hacking skills acquired through YouTube tutorials.
But you sure can build awesome stuff, very quickly.
I remember when I made my first buttons appear on my navigator, I was LOSING. MY SHIT. It was so awesome, and every time I achieve something new, I still feel that same thrill.
It took 1 month of a Front End Masters course for me to build my first complete project, and 3 additional months to land my first free-lance job.
It is not easy. It is not for everyone.
But if you invest some time and energy in it, it will pay off quickly.
Because it can change your life
Not to be dramatic or anything, but learning how to code and leveling up your tech skills can be what’s standing between you and your next promotion, or major career shift. Don’t take it from me — I’ve been in the business for like 5 minutes.
But you can take it from the countless women I met through Ladies of Code Paris who completely turned their life around learning code to gain independence, upgrade their career or get out of bad situations.
Even Karlie Kloss, the infamous supermodel, learned how to code later in life and ended up founding Kode with Klossy, a coding bootcamp for girls !
Because it’s gym for the brain
Coding regularly, just like exercising at the gym, can contribute to mental agility, problem-solving capabilities, and overall cognitive well-being. It’s a dynamic and intellectually stimulating activity that exercises the hell out of your noggin.
It trains your:
- Creativity,
- Analytical and critical thinking,
- Perseverance and patience (believe me with this one),
- Pattern recognition skills,
- Attention to detail and precision,
- Problem solving skills, of course.
In short: coding keeps you young and sharp.
Because it’s the future
Not to freak you out or anything, but I’m sure you’ve noticed that AI is invading each and every industry right now. The IT department no longer is the team of nerds hidden in the basement that you call to solve your printer issues.
IT is everywhere, in every department, of every sector.
Learning how to code is a way to get ahead of the curve of the massive changes that are happening or bound to happen in the way we work leveraging technology.
Don’t get me wrong — you don’t NEED to become an engineer, an AI expert or even a developer, and even that isn’t guaranteed to get you hired in this economy. It’s not even about learning how to do absolutely everything yourself — plenty of well versed engineers and researchers can do that for us.
However, it is a good way to learn and understand the mechanisms at play. Discern the facts from the bullshit yourself and fully appreciate the changes that are driven by upcoming technologies.
Because it’s fun
And not in a nerdy “I torture myself building my projects in assembly for fun” way.
Genuinely, the experience is fun for anyone, no matter how deep you plan on falling down the rabbit hole.
The sense of community in tech is one of the strongest of all industries. Through learning how to code, I got to attend meetups and conferences, meet amazingly brilliant people, and among them friends for life.
I made unforgettable memories participating in Hackathons I thought I didn’t have the level to compete in, and working out problems during sleepless nights on Discord with my friends.
Coding is fun. And solving a problem you’ve been stuck on forever is easily in the top 3 most satisfying feelings of the human experience.
And if you want to know where to start when you have 0 tech knowledge
Well you better stay on the lookout for my next articles on the matter, with my favorite resources to learn how to code no matter your background 🎀
