Thread by @rasmansa

A lot of people think it takes special innate abilities to be a coder. That's very wrong. Almost anyone can learn to code.

Coding is simply giving a machine a bunch of instructions to iteratively solve *little* problems. You then do this again and again, and again. These little problems combine to be the solution for a bigger problem. Individual coders don't need to solve the big problem usually.

Coding instructions aren't complicated either, and I mean all of them. They are all tremendously straightforward. If A, then B. While X, do Y. If you can understand the idea of storing a value and those two things, you can code.

Now, coding does have a lot of higher level models created on top of those low level instructions. Guess what, you often don't need them. A lot of them do the same things, and better yet, a lot of them are previously solved. You want to sort a list? Already done.

But Mansa, can I get a job with this basic level of coding? Yes, you can.

Will you get a job at Microsoft or Google with a basic level? 😂, No. But that's okay.

You might only do small changes in a coding shop for a company looking to outsource for cheap. That's okay.

But coding isn't about getting a job as a programmer. A lot of coders aren't professional programmers. It's about solving problems with computers. From the stats nerd to the psych person analyzing a dataset, to even the kid doing some fancy stuff with a scientific calculator.

So who is capable of coding to a useful level?

The vast majority of people. If you've played a console game, you can probably code. All those combinations of key-presses are simply instructions to a digital agent. That's coding.

Have you ever written a recipe of something? In code-speak we call that an algorithm, that already makes you a respectable coder. You've taken inputs, figured out how to process them to get to your outputs. That's coding.

Anyway, teach your kids to code. Learn to code. It's not as hard as you think. It's good for your brain.

Here's another secret, there are a lot of professional programmers who aren't great at coding. Your best skill is probably curiosity.

Another thing: whether there are enough jobs for coders is a different question. I don't think getting a job is the reason to learn coding though. I think a lot more people can get a job at coding if there were more coders. Check the stats, we have a massive shortage today.