Do I Really Have To Learn How To Program?

That’s the main question being pointed out in Program Or Be Programmed by Douglass Rushkoff. It is a question that relates to what’s happening in the current age, where computers and other technologies are being controlled by programs. He answered the question by explaining that people don’t really have to learn how to program. They just have to learn that programming exists.

“…the real answer is probably no. You don’t. You can get by without becoming a literate participant in the digital age. You… have to learn that programming exists. These environments in which we’re all spending so much of our time these days — the websites and social networks where we do our work and play — they are not nature.”

While this may seem logical, I disagree with it. Having the mentality that you can get by without becoming a literate participant will not be helping people in the long run. The present is just a glimpse of what lies ahead. Success in the future will be dependent on how well you understand lines of code, whether you’re a computer scientist, engineer, or a person in a completely different field.

If you’re interested, there are many ways to learn how to program. I would recommend going to Codecademy. It’s a very useful website that can teach you how to program from scratch. It has a variety of programming languages to choose from, badges that you can collect as you go along, and social networking features so you can brag what you’ve just learned to your friends.