Discovering an extraordinary empty canvas: learning to code as a journalist
The difference between coding and programming is the application of logic. A programmer is a problem solver who identifies the steps an algorithm performs in order to complete its task, and a coder is the person who actually writes those steps.
I mean, mostly they are interchangeable terms, but for me this difference made the onslaught of information during our eight-week Walkley’s coding course much more manageable.
Initially, I started a notebook with definitions of these abstract terms. A “gem” is the way we pull other people’s code into our app. The command “inspect” tells you everything inside an object. An “integer” is a whole number in a data set. A “string” can be any value. A “user story” is a brilliant map of what you actually want your application to do, who can do it and how it might look to an outside user.
Our classes — once a week on Saturdays at the Coder Academy— took the shape of a university tutorial. Anthony was our teacher and his depth of knowledge was astonishing. His understanding of the infinite ways computers can solve problems was mixed with a genuine interest in the reach of our imaginations. One of the key things I learned was: If you can imagine something, you can probably program a machine to make it, do it it or find an answer for it.
As far as empty canvasses go, that’s pretty extraordinary.
We decided to build an application that allowed people to find various events that appealed different “types of attendees” and support staff (for example, the Insight SBS audience, film sets, media sources). Basically: A self-sorting database that enables businesses who need certain types of event attendees or support staff to find them efficiently.
Ruby on Rails is a programming language that automatically generates default frameworks for databases and webpages. It’s useful because it doesn’t really require you to scribe individual lines of code. Instead, it shows you where to insert pre-written code and then runs it all together for you. It is broken down into controllers, which are “bins” for sorting information in different ways.
Another major takeaway from the course was an understanding of how computers sort data and identify patterns. Our “user map” required us to think about what kind of data we were dealing with and ways it could be used. If you can sort data, program it so the machine knows where to look for it, and then give it explicit instructions on what to do once the data is retrieved, then you can basically make a computer do anything. My respect for the humble database has gone through the roof.
Our classes largely involved Anthony describing the mind-snapping possibilities of computer programming and us trying to hang on to the general gist.
Because we were all working on the same project, he mapped out the steps towards completion on a screen in front of us. I must admit, I was hopeless at keeping up with his steps on my own laptop. We moved very quickly, and there was a lot of language I was getting my head around. Especially because almost everything he was saying was new information. I haven’t been in an environment like that in a long time. Even though all the concepts made sense and Anthony explained them clearly, we would rarely have time to dwell on them.
Meaning homework was crucial.
The course ran for eight weeks and alongside my propensity to forget the homework, I also found it difficult to commit to every Saturday class. Despite this, I cannot emphasise enough the shift in my thinking and the amount that I learnt. While I definitely cannot write out lines of code, I can certainly begin designing a computer program. I know how to identify what kind of data we will need to power it and I can sort it into usable categories. I am much more enlightened about how websites work and have really enjoyed finding super nifty sites on the web. Often I’ll find myself on a page and think, “wow, they’ve programmed some cool features into this site”.
For my role as a reporter, I think the main takeaway was an understanding of the language itself. I now can have a much more useful conversation with the developers who power our website and have an appreciation of the possible and impossible.
For what it’s worth, I’ve downloaded some programming games for my console and have been playing those. Practicing the logic and the “order of operations” is probably the most helpful thing I can do at the moment, given I’m unlikely to bust out some flawless Ruby Rails code in the near future.
And while I may not be a coder at present, I think I’m getting the hang of what it might mean to be a programmer. Provided I do the homework.
