Why Is Programming Important

Introduction.

The world has rapidly increased its digital use in the last few decades. The first smartphone was invented around 1992 (1) and first tablet computers were conceived in the late 1980's. Today there are nearly as many cell phones as there are people in the world, around 7 billion. (2)

In just a few decades the growth of digital devices had grown exponentially. The services these devices provide have also multiplied and there is now ever greater dependence on these and other IT devices.

Growth of devices versus programmers.

In 2012 the number of students studying computer science in the UK fell by 23% at undergraduate level and 34% post graduate level. (3) There has been a general fall world wide. This seems ironic given the growth of the technology. Since then, there has been a drive to get more people involved and reverse the decline. The leaders of many multi-national organisations realised the potentially consequences of having a shortage of computer programmers. (4) Therefore, there is considerable need to have skilled computer programmers and software developers.

Does everyone need to learn programming?

Firstly we might consider a distinction between programmers and good programmers. There is a considerable difference and not everyone can become a good programmer. Who wants to fly in an aeroplane utilising software which has many bugs? Nobody. Therefore, not everyone needs to learn to programme but those that do need to learn good standards of programming skills.

What would be beneficial is that everyone learns and appreciation of programming and programming concepts. This in turn will increase user awareness and experience in this technology dependant world.

Including programming at all levels of education.

Many schools are now teaching pupils at entry level education to program computers. (5) This is as a result of the decrease of students studying the subject, mentioned earlier. This means children at getting exposure to programming at a very early age and thus will develop their creative skills. These creative skills will, in turn, be used to in many different areas of society, e.g. health, education etc. They will drive new ideas and products that will require good software and hardware at their core to be utilised. This in turn then increases the demand for programmers to fulfil those needs.

Conclusion.

It is evident that the growth of technology has been considerable over the last two to three decades. The exponential growth of the technology has not been matched with the development of programmer and programming skills. Hardware is dependant of software - software is dependant on programmers. A distinction can be made between programmers and good programmers. Not everyone needs to learn to be a programmer but those that do should learn to be good programmers. However, everyone should have an appreciation of programming in the same way that everyone needs to learn basic maths.

There is no question that technology development will continue and the success or otherwise of that development will be down to programmers. Programmers are now as essential to the world and its technology as farmers are to growing food to feed the world's inhabitants.

(1) http://www.phonearena.com/news/Did-you-know-what-was-the-first-smartphone-ever_id58842 (2) http://qz.com/179897/more-people-around-the-world-have-cell-phones-than-ever-had-land-lines/ (3) http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/08/eric-schmidt-improve-computer-education (4) http://www.academy-cube.com/coding-programming-necessary-skills-to-survive-in-the-digital-world/ (5) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9334478/Computing-GCSE-to-focus-on-programming.html