Benefits of Learning to Program

“What are the benefits of learning to Program?”

-a question that is answered more and more frequently as computers and technology become more and more a part of all of our lives and more and more of us are learning to program .

The practical Answer: It’ll help you get a job!

For the last several years, googling “Job prospects for programmers” has shown lots of articles about the growing job demands for the profession. You can always check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics outlook for an updated official set of stats. Bottom line- we need more and more programmers!

But, what if I dont’ want to be a programmer?

Then, there are still many reasons for learning to code,

Firstly, as the world becomes more and more computer centric, you don’t have to be a full-time computer programmer to reap the rewards of learning how to program and how computers work.

But, the biggest reason is to improve your problem solving skills. More than almost any other discipline in school, programming requires constant problem solving and creativity.  While you can probably get through most high school math classes by memorizing formulas and practicing how to apply a set of steps for specific types of problems .  The quadratic formula, anyone ? Yes, this is a gross exaggeration that many teachers might argue with, but most of us know that most , math classes in US high schools can be ‘hacked’ this way . Eventually, of course, if students go on to take AP calculus or other higher-level math, they  are expected to apply more problem-solving and original thinking.

So what’s different about learning to program? Two things

#1)In short, getting to the point of original thinking and problem solving comes quickly computer science field.

#2) Along with this challenge comes the part that appeals to many students– the creativity of making stuff– whether it’s making websites, a Java applet or Python GUI.

So, now it’s time for you to start learning.

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