Cofounder/CTO at Vymo. Alum Columbia University & BITS, Pilani.
For the longest time, we’ve heard and accepted the left-brain-right-brain theory. Most of us believe that we are inclined one way and that our career choices result from this. But increasingly, neuroscientists are finding that this notion is inaccurate. The human brain doesn’t favor one side to the other.
While the brain does use each half of the brain for specific activities—we can no longer assume that mathematicians are left-brained, and opera singers are right.
Take computer programming, for example. It requires logic, analytical and problem-solving capabilities—typically a left-brained stronghold. But I believe, irrespective of what old research says and what new research tells us, anyone can code and everyone should.
Here’s why.
Technology And Software Are Pervasive
We compare insurance plans online, rely on school WhatsApp groups for communication, and reconfirm the steps of a recipe by checking a YouTube video. Every action we take today has technology intertwined with that process. The smallest businesses in the towns and villages in India have a QR code facilitating a UPI transaction! The coconut seller may not know anything other than his vernacular language—but she definitely knows how to transact on the phone. Increasingly, it has become imperative to be digitally literate.
While it may be enough to use an app, spending time understanding how it was built can deepen one’s understanding.
Programming Teaches You Problem-Solving
Programming as a subject requires us to break down a challenge into smaller, solvable parts and then tackle each part to develop a viable solution. Writing algorithms, reasoning out steps and building toward a logical conclusion, identifying patterns, debugging the piece of code you have written, and finally, abstraction are invaluable lessons someone can learn and use effectively in other scenarios!
It Also Encourages Creativity
Is this the best way to solve a problem? Can your steps to concluding become shorter? Take another approach. During my time with the Google mobile team, we were building consumer technology that moved from being reactive (waiting for the user to ask for information) to proactive (what the user needs). This technological shift required a lot of creative thinking in the background—what kind of data do we need to understand what a user wants, and how do you combine data effectively to gather interesting insights into a customer? You start wearing a creative hat without even realizing it!
Programming Builds Resilience
Leading psychologists say that teaching problem-solving skills is one of the most important cornerstones to building resilience. Other things to learn include building a growth mindset and learning to manage failure. Coders know that trial and error is part of their job. You need to persist through challenges, errors, continuous debugging and adapting your approach. This encourages a growth mindset and builds a certain tenacity that helps individuals view challenges as a stepping stone.
Programming Is Accessible Now—Especially For Kids
The internet has opened up so many avenues for learning programming. Several websites help you learn coding skills. Especially for children—there is a tremendous opportunity to learn and benefit from programming. Close to 50 million children across 200-plus countries and territories use MIT’s Scratch to create projects! Code.org provides some very interesting projects to children based on their favorite animation characters to help them learn code.
And the uptake seems promising—start ’em young, it looks like!
Why Should You And I Care?
As technology leaders, we play a significant role in promoting a culture of code-enablement among children and youth. A few ways I think we can enable this include:
1. Mentor school-going children and high school graduates—give them an overview of coding, expose them to learning resources, guide them to work on small projects.
2. Support not-for-profit institutions that work toward education and volunteer as faculty and mentors.
3. Partner with educational institutions and organize hackathons, coding meets, etc. for children and provide sponsorship, fee discounts and other rewards.
4. Maybe encourage employee children and families to learn coding basics and provide stipends to cover this.
These are ways in which we could be involved in helping future generations pick up computer science skills. Do write to me if you are working toward this in some way and would like to share your ideas.
As the world moves into generative AI and its applications, technology will only advance faster—and it becomes very important to stay tuned. Learn the language! While the World Economic Forum lists computer science skills as essential for employability in its Future of Jobs report, it is beyond that. As a Brookings study quotes, programming is among a broad suite of skills youngsters need to thrive in work, life and citizenship.
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