Reason #1:
You learn something that will be essential in the future.
Coding or software programming will be needed in every single field, why? just because it is the most efficient way to solve problems in every single field of science and knowledge.
Just like it happened with math and statistics where after so many years society realized that everyone benefits and needs that knowledge to thrive in any career they choose, from layers, to medical specialists they all need numbers and statistics knowledge to succeed in their fields. The same way computer programming will be needed and thought as a basic subject not only in universities but from school as early as elementary school.
Some advanced schools are already doing it but it will take some years for everyone to follow.
Reason #2:
You learn to approach and solve problems in a more structured and efficient way.
Our dearest “algorithms” are the base of learning computer programming, actually the sentence “learning to code” means only learning to speak the computer language but what we all need is actually learning to solve problems in smart, scalable and efficient ways using code and software as a tool for it, but the main skill to be learnt is how to solve those problems in the most efficient and scalable way.
This knowledge and actually I would call it “skill” because it requires practice, is impactful not only in our professional lives (again, no matter what your field is) but also in our personal lives, in how we approach challenges and problems. Learning to code or learning computer programming and algorithm solving will teach you:
a) that every problem is solvable even when you don’t know how yet. It will teach you that not knowing how to solve it doesn’t mean it is not solvable, it only menas you haven’t found the way yet. which takes me to lesson “b”:
b) You can google your way into solving almost anything. The knowledge is out there, you just have to find it. In the past we would say “all the knowledge is out there you just have to read enough books to access it, but now you don’t need to read full books, you can simply google it. Honestly this is one of the biggest learnings, understanding that most of your problems, challenges and questions can be found by googling it. That way you can find the information, studies, tests, results, and people who found them or discovered them so you can actually have a conversation about it instead of asking people expecting that they solve your issues for you.
c) Breaking things down into pieces is easier, more achievable and realistic than trying to solve the full problem all together. That’s a life lesson: take one day at the time, one mile stone at the time, one small step at the time and you will get further than you imagined.
Reason #3:
Last and most exciting for me: It is one of the very few careers that you can actually learn from scratch in 3-4 months (online or at a in-person bootcamp) and get a job right away. Improving your income / changing your career path / changing your life path.
Some of the most inspiring stories I know, have come from people changing their lives because they learnt to code and were able to get a good job with it.
Keep in mind 2 things:
1. Software development is a huge growing field : from AI, machine learning, data science, to web design, mobile development, the areas are almost infinite now and keep growing as we speak. so the need for this talent keeps growing at the same pace. Therefore in an open market where everything depends on demand & supply, the more demand there is for a specific talent the higher the job will pay.
2. it takes 3-4 months to have the basic knowledge to be able to get a junior job where you actually have to learn and develop the skills through years of experience that will allow you to grow into a very talented and skilled programmer who will be more and more valuable for the market as time passes by. But like everything in life: you have to be willing to start “at the bottom” and to keep learning literally forever. If you are not willing and excited to do so, then this is not your career path.
The Yogi Coder 