5 Reasons Why You Should Learn Programming

When it comes to expanding what you do and being more valuable to potential employers, programming is a great way to get yourself greater value on the job market. Programming is a valuable skill. There are a lot of people who do a lot of things with computers, but at the same time, there are not as many people who are learning programming. The biggest reason is programming is not done by more people is because there is a degree of complexity to it. That being said, just because something may not be easy is no reason to dismiss the undertaking. When you learn programming, you are literally learning a new language – and that is a very valuable language skill.

The reality is if you do anything on the computer, you are encountering programming and that makes it vitally important that you learn it because you will have a deeper understanding. In today’s world, there is a greater emphasis on the information technology aspect of careers, programming is vitally important. However, if you decide to ditch simple website builders and become a professional web developer then you should take up programming. This is a vital aspect of how you can make yourself more marketable in this field. There are plenty of excellent ways to learn how to program. The key is to find yourself a program that works for your learning style, and once you do so, you will create an additional area of marketability for yourself. Here are five reasons you should learn how to program.

Programming Teaches You Persistence and Problem Solving

There are plenty of life skills you get through programming and those include how to be persistent and how to problem solve. This is a very important because you will experience a lot of fits and starts with programming, especially at the beginning. Learning how to code and use a different language is never simple, and even if you use a common language like JavaScript, it is still quite difficult. As you encounter issues with your programming, you’ll learn how to work around things and fix problems. Furthermore, programming will teach you the rewards of persistence. As you improve your programming skills, more opportunities will open themselves up. Spend your time working on your programming skills and what will happen is you’ll improve and that will give you the practical experience necessary to be a proper programmer.

Programming Fosters Creativity

When programmers are given a problem, they attack it in different ways. What is interesting about watching programmers work is how they break down problems. The key to doing so is not just getting a problem and getting right into the code, but rather seeing the different areas of the board. A good analogy for this is chess, the best chess players will see the whole board, but they will focus on winning a section of the board at a time. Programmers are similar. They find parts of the problem that are easy to solve and start there, working their way ultimately towards the solution to the overarching issue. This type of creativity is something that will keep building as you keep programming. After you solve some issues, you will start to see the board better and that will help you be more creative and efficient when you get some really interesting problems that are coming across your desk.

Programming Makes Life Efficient

The reason we have technology in our lives is so that we can do things with greater efficiency. A great example of this is the simple act of tabulating results. When in the past you would need people to hand count things, programmers have made life simple with things like radio buttons on a program. That allows instantaneous tabulation. As a programmer, your goal is always to make things simple and easy for the users of your programs. If you become especially proficient at programming, what will happen is you could stumble upon the next billion-dollar idea. The more efficient things are, the more people are looking for your help if you are the one crafting the efficiency. Simply look around you and see all the different things you do in a day, and what you will see is that programmers have made your life that much simpler and more efficient with what seems like the smallest tweaks.

Better Job Prospects

This one may seem redundant, but the reality is there are several IT jobs out there which are simple – such as being the guy who installs drivers and connects printers – to the more complex jobs, such as being a programmer. If you are a programmer for a major corporation, then you are designing the systems upon which they do business. This is such an exciting challenge. You can work with a small startup or a larger corporation, depending on your preference. Your skillset is something that is coveted amongst employers, and the best part is you can use your skillset to help you get a great salary and benefits in negotiations. Another thing your job prospects will include is the opportunity to work remotely. For many people, it is quite appealing to spend your time working at home than it would be heading to an office. Programming gives you this flexibility where it did not exist before.

Programming Allows You To Have True Freedom

When you are a programmer, you have freedom in a way other people don’t. The reality is you can work from anywhere in the world. This is what true freedom is, living and working from an environment that you would most enjoy. That makes you have the life that people dream of. Instead of waiting for retirement to do all of this, you can take up programming, learn it, get proficient with it, and then dictate the terms of your career. Instead of waiting on someone else and having to be at their beck and call, you are able to do the things you want, how you want, and when you want.

Kevin Ku