ce magazine january 2018 issue

Should We Really Try to Teach
Everyone to Code?
Courtesy of ScratchJr.org
Courtesy of ScratchJr.org
It’s hard to read a blog or news site these days
without stumbling across an article about why
everyone should learn to code. It’s a rallying cry that’s
given rise to organizations like Codecademy and
Code.org. It’s even cracked the national political
agenda, with ex US House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor having declared that “becoming literate in code is as essential to being literate in
language and math.”
The icing on the cake was an article about ScratchJr, a new iPad app described as “coding for
Kindergarten.” Like Cantor, the app’s creators believe that coding is a new type of literacy that
should be available to everyone, starting at a young age. Yes, now even your 5-year-old can
get in on the coding action, and build their own stories and interactive games.
Software Is ‘Eating the World,’ But There Aren’t Enough
Programmers to Keep Up
Don’t get me wrong: I think the intent of all these “learn to code” initiatives is good. After all,
the ability to build apps has never been a more desirable — and critical — skill.
Just look around you. Apps now manage nearly every aspect of our lives, personally and
professionally. We have dozens of apps on our smartphones and tablets for our finances,
fitness and everything in between; and we rely on nearly as many to do our jobs. On top of
that, apps are quickly taking over our thermostats, cars and just about every device we own.
Marc Andreessen’s statement that “software is eating the world” rings truer than ever before.
That’s why teaching everybody to build apps is such a noble and necessary pursuit, especially
in business. Industries that have existed for hundreds of years are being radically disrupted
and transformed by apps. The demand for custom software has never been higher, and the
notion that traditional IT departments will be able to keep pace is laughable. According to a
recent McKinsey study, 87 percent of IT leaders rate themselves poorly in terms of their ability
to bring new ideas to market quickly.
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