Coding — a language everyone should learn for the future
We live in a rapidly advancing world in terms of technology, and having technological skills, especially coding — telling a computer what the user wants it to do — can help us to gain more and better opportunities, personally and professionally.
Coding is basic literacy, considering how computerised the world is. Technology is everywhere, and children are growing up differently from their parents, surrounded by computers, smartphones, YouTube and other social media.
Not only do we need to know how to use these technologies, we also should understand how they work.
Coding is known to improve problem-solving and logic skills. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once said: “Everybody in this country (the United States) should learn how to programme a computer because it teaches you how to think.”
Programmers do not start to code immediately after being given a problem; coding helps to break the problem down and work it out in a structured way to understand it better.
Singapore has coding schools and courses, but I feel that the importance of coding is not recognised enough.
It should be a core language in school, like English and mother tongue; and a skill for everyone, not only younger students, but also older employees in various industries, so that they stay grounded and can handle a younger workforce.
Many companies are growing to be more technically oriented and dependent on technology to operate their businesses.
Such dependence will only grow over time.
People today, whether they are children, millennials or older adults, should be able to understand and control technology and not merely consume it, thus allowing themselves to be involved in this digital shift (Meet Japan’s octogenarian iPhone app-maker; Aug 8).
