Why you must learn programming — Same reason why you learnt English !
30 years ago when my parents were deciding which Kindergarten I should join, they decided it based on one single criteria: A school where I could learn fluent English.
I joined a Jesuit school and while our school authorities never imposed religion on us, Jesus and the christian way of living was definitely part of life. My grandfather, a staunch Hindu, didn’t even bat an eyelid at this decision.
However, I always wondered about the “why” behind this decision.
Time taught me the “why” and let me share some of that with you.
This.
and that there are a whopping 1.5 billion users of Facebook (majority use English)
Are you getting the drift?
The English language is the largest operating system and platform for global conversation.
It’s one platform that will let you network, connect and communicate with people even if you don’t have access to a desktop, mobile phone or internet.
Food for thought:
- You want to read the best story about the latest events in the world: You have to know English
- You want to see or read the latest research: You have to know English
- You want to read the latest book on whats trending in technology: You have to know English
- You are in a new country and want to communicate with locals: You mostly can find a way if you know English
I’m not undermining any other language here but honestly, today those who master English possess a strong competitive edge in diverse fields like diplomacy, commerce, media, academia etc.
If you know English, it means you have a place at the heart of a thriving global network.
In hindsight, it all makes sense now why my parents put so much emphasis on me mastering English. Thanks to the decision taken 30 years ago, today, I am part of global network of 1.75 billion people. Thanks to that decision, I got an MBA from a university that prides on diversity. Thanks to that decision, I am now sharing my views with more than 50 million monthly users of Medium across the world.
Now how did English become so important?
The Britishers did not teach English to the world with an altruistic motivation. Their colonial history and them wanting to enhance productivity by having a common language of communication was what led to the language being taught across the all British colonies over the globe.
However, it also became a tool to connect with people globally, largely driven by commerce. Internet proliferated it even more.
Why programming will be the new English?
Technology is slowly becoming the language to remain connected. If you want to have an influence in commerce, politics, media and cultural life, ‘connectedness’ is a major priority; technology is the vehicle that has become the choice:
- Globally, elections were largely dominated by help of technology (Remember the recent US election?)
- Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays have large influence on buying behaviour outside US.
- The top 3 companies of the world in terms of market capitalisation are all tech companies.
- Facebook might soon have larger reach as a platform than English itself.
Tim cook, CEO of Apple Inc., — gave some brief thoughts on education in a video interview with French outlet Konbini. Cook said:
“If I were a French student and I were 10 years old, I think it would be more important to learn coding than English. I’m not telling people not to learn English — but this (coding) is a language that you can [use to] express yourself to 7 billion people in the world. I think coding should be required in every public school in the world.”
You might know your way around a computer, but in order to influence the new economy, you will have to know how to write a program, not just use one. A person in Guatemala will be using the same new programming languages of the future as in India or the US.
Programming will be the Lingua Franca !!
That’s the reason why, today, a 20 something year old computer programmer can start an Instagram with 5 other programmers and reach out to 1 billion consumers within 6 years.
Technology is going to be instrumental in shaping tomorrow. You cannot refute that.
The next generation will have to know programming. They cannot avoid that.
What will change will be the way we program and code. A decade or two ago people programmed on complex languages. Today there are simpler codes. Tomorrow will usher in further democratisation, simplification and standardisation into programming.
In the May 29th issue of Newsweek, the tech columnist Kevin Maney mentioned “Computers are about to get more brainlike and [soon] will understand us on our terms, not theirs,” he wrote. When that happens, “the very nature of programming will shift.” He projects that by 2030 we’ll simply tell our machines what we want them to do. Who knows you might be programming with SIRI or Alexa in ten years!!
Let me also take a moment to address the big misconception that programming is something geeks do. No! Programming is just like learning Spanish to talk to a gorgeous segnorita ! only this time the segnorita is a computer. You learn a new language (call it programming) and ask the computer to analyse millions of results to get you a result. For e.g. Best way to position the “Submit” icon on a form. Should it be left, right, centre etc.
In a decade, computer programming will be as essential as cursive handwriting. Whether you are an artist, musician, writer, sports-enthusiast or a vegetable vendor, if you want to influence at scale, you will soon start programming. Think about Watson deciphering trends in art over the centuries to predict what the next decade of artists are most likely to draw or paint. Isn't that intriguing ?
This might hit you hard, especially if you come from a non-technical background. Why should you learn programming if you are an artist? Probably the same way it would have intrigued and questioned the believe of my parents and grandfather 30 years ago : “why should they make their next generation learn a foreign language in their own country?”
What I would like to conclude with is this. Technology shall fuel mankind’s tomorrow. It’s unavoidable. No aspect of life shall remain untouched by programming. From farming to medicine, everything will be powered with the code or AI.
In such a scenario to be productive and instrumental in shaping your surroundings and harnessing the smartness of machines, you need to speak the language of the medium of influence.
Technology is that medium of influence, and technology speaks via programming.
Are you ready?
