Why Everyone Should Try Coding (at least once)

After a long long period of hiatus, I recently reconnected with my inner nerd and went for a 1-day Python coding workshop. It was nerve wrecking to say the least, as I sat down with 20 other people in the room, who all looked like they knew what they were in for (except me).

Fast forward 20 mins into the workshop, I was on a roll. Although the syntax was different (it has actually gotten much more easier), I was glad the fundamentals of programming never did change much. As I coded my IF THIS THEN ELSE and WHILE loops, I was reminded of how much I loved coding back then. And I would recommend everyone to try it at least once sometimes. Here’s why:

  1. It is FUN
    That sense of satisfaction and accomplishment of having written a piece of code, compiling it and seeing it worked was what got me hooked on programming back then. Many years on, that feeling just came flooding back. Some people find it so sublime that there is even a code editor call Sublime Text (really).
  2. It is Efficient
    Programming languages are perhaps, the most efficient languages to ever exist. They’re specific and yet all encompassing. It is written in point form but when combined, the codes power a lot of things.
  3. It trains our problem solving skills
    Programming is about taking a big chunk of work, slicing them into smaller logical parts, and systematically coding the program to do the work. It trains me to visualise the outputs, the process and inputs required. And this helps me not only in my analytics / quant work, but also, when doing strategic planning.

So what do you think? Have you tried coding before? If you haven’t, why not try it out today?

About Kaye
Grew up in Singapore, stood on the cusp of the internet revolution, and surfed it (literally). My “cloud” was made up of FTP servers and free VM software, my “WiFi” was LAN cables that ran across the walls in trunking that my dad hand-laid. I learned to code in Turbo Pascal, and subsequently, Delphi (if you know them, you’re probably as old as I am, or older). 🙂

I’m fascinated by all things digital and still bear nostalgia towards childhood gadgets. My first Pentium-I PC that ran on Windows’98 which I hand-coded my entire A-Levels computing project with, the comforting sound of the 56K modem, the fun I had with the Nintendo Popeye Handheld, the fights with my siblings over who got to use the landline, and my original Nokia 3310 that’s still sitting somewhere in my mom’s house. Not to mention the grande dames of the living room – the television sets that I grew up watching.

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayehau/
Twitter: @kayehau
Email: kaye.hau@generaltechtalk.com

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