“Knowing how to code in 2014 is like being a magician – everyone has an ‘idea’, very few can make it happen!” – Benjamin Levi, {CodeCamp} founder.
There’s a misnomer that haunts many adults. Not having learned the skill of playing an instrument as a kid, or learning a language, or riding a bike, or whatever it may be, precludes us from doing so as adults.
In fact, in relation to learning a language, a friend of mine even once proclaimed ‘I feel sad that my brain is too old now, and I’ll never be able to learn.’
But to those who genuinely believe that, how did you learn to use your new phone or tablet? How did you navigate a quicker route to work? How did you lose weight, or train for that marathon?
It may sound trite, but it’s certainly very true: we’re learning all the time, and with training and determination, can achieve things we didn’t think possible.
Far from being a craft known only to wizards and geniuses, coding has been likened to learning an instrument, a language, or indeed any other skill.
Both the US and UK governments have started making a concerted effort to raise the profile of pathways into technology, and some in the industry, like Freelancer CEO Matt Barrie, believe Australia has been slow to cotton on.
Yet the tide may soon be turning.
For example, teaching kids and adults how to code has attracted a somewhat unlikely campaigner in will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas, who is learning to code and regularly speaks for US startup Code.org.
“Here we are, we all depend on technology to communicate, to bank, and none of us know how to read and write code. It’s important for these kids, right now, starting at 8 years old, to read and write code,” will.i.am says.
Locally, ‘Code Camps’, like the one run by Sydney-based entrepreneur Benjamin Levi, are springing up to teach kids this important skill.
There are also a host of courses for adults both online and in classrooms, that can give you your start in coding. Of course it goes without saying that there’s a vast difference between acquiring elementary skills, and being a fully-fledged software engineer, but then again, nobody picks up a violin and can simply play.
So Dynamic Business: as a community of entrepreneurs, startup founders, and small business owners, what could you do if you knew how to code?
