Nice!

"Great coders are today's rockstars. That's it."

Coding may very well be the reading and writing of the 21st century.

Excellent first post!

Nerds rule the world!

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Tuesday, February 26th, 2013 8:28am PST - promote requested by Hive13.

I started coding when I was 9...in 1981, when all my friends were playing Atari. So glad my parents bought me a computer instead of the 2600.

*quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by Lendl.

I think coding still needs to evolve to a point where most people can actually do it. Right now, it's still too technical, elaborate, obscure, and frustrating.

It's like when people first started using computers, they weren't easy to use (or cheap) enough at first, but they evolved and now everybody uses a computer in one way or another.

They should work on that, and not trying to make coding seem "cool".

how ironic that the coding on this very page is glitching, so that the stream of comments bleeds over into the side-bar margins.

Still, interesting video.

Efficient algorithms and data structures matter.

"There is more to computer science than programming." - Robert Sedgewick

My main issue is that people need to understand that "coding" is not one field.

Sure, there are underlying principles that are shared, but software development is as varied a field as engineering in general.

A civil engineer and a mechanical engineer both need to understand physical forces like stress, but neither could or should do the others job.

What's appropriate for OS level programming is not appropriate for a web app.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

The implication seems to be that everyone should learn to code So they can be successful software tycoons. Although I'd like my kids to code, I think this point of view may be looking at the last 20 years through a rosy rear-view mirror. Coding skils != success, and the NEXT 20 years may require some very different skills indeed.

They're totally right. Coders are geniuses and the most incredible specimens of awesomeness on Earth. Rockstars. Wizards. Super powers. Yep. Couldn't agree more.

Objectively speaking, of course.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg' to 'Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg, inspiration, programming, coders, software' - edited by lucky760

I think it's more accurate to say that anyone who has any interest in creating things (or has a god complex) should learn to code. And of those people, those who love doing it should become masters of it.

As I was surprised to learn from my fellow computer science majors while in college, the vast majority of people who are pursuing a career developing software aren't even very interested in it. If you lack passion for it, stay out of the kitchen or you'll be miserable.

How come you're not in this video?

Coding is not the reading, writing, and math of the 21st century.

Coding is a practical application of all those skills.

Symbolic logic may be even more applicable than math.

Been writing code since I was 8 when I get a C64 in '86.

Writing code isn't for everyone. It's so abstract from anything else I can think of, even math.

There is a definitely a difference between just writing code, and coming up with the solution to the problem. I sometimes write the really hard problems in pseudo code, then go code it up later. So there are definitely two parts to it.

That's a two-edged sword. Too many coders are secretly engineers who want to do it in the perfect way, where very often you only want it "good enough" instead of "perfect". Striking a balance of that, is how you get things done.

Always considered programming basically a bottomless box of endlessly configurable Lego. If you can think it, you can code it. All the myriad of limitations in the physical world just cease to exist.

I first learned programming concepts in 4th grade (LOGO), but I didn't know that's what it was at the time.

In 9th grade I took an intro to programming course (QuickBasic) and from that point on, that was what I wanted to do with my life.

Unfortunately, back then, there was no path to employment that didn't involve college and I couldn't get into college (or graduate, even if I could have).

Today I work closely with programmers and constantly wish I could be doing it, but I feel like I'm too old to start all over now.

If you're interested in learning some programming basics, I can tell you it's really not that difficult. It's almost all algebra and logical statements.

This video really speaks to me. I'm just finishing up my computer science degree, and as part of it, I end up doing a lot of tutoring and actual teaching the classes for those who are just starting out (I want to teach it when I get out).

I always tell the freshmen, computer science is not about any particular language, or coding, its really about problem solving. Its the ability to take a large or complex problem, break it down into smaller tasks, then solve those small tasks. We just happen to do it using a computer. Those I notice that succeed and do well seem to really get this.

Of course I also always tell the freshman to indent when they see a curly brace...but that never happens.....

I love programming. Python is divine, BASIC is beautiful and x86 Assembly is the purest language ever conceived.

The hell you are too old. You're only too old if you tell yourself that. Coding isn't a young man's game like the rest of IT -- old coders are the BEST coders!

I think every book on programming starts with the "Hello world" proggie.

When they say programming isn't being taught in 90% of US schools, are they counting all the elementaries and giving them the same weight as high schools with 10X the number of students? I just can't imagine most high schools don't offer optional programming classes.

http://thejournal.com/Articles/2009/08/04/Computer-Science-Courses-on-the-Decline.aspx?Page=1

Just what the world needs right now, more codemonkeys.

I am looking forward to see further developments of the IT-Revolution.

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That's just the point! There's too many programmers that don't know diddly about computer science, wouldn't know how to analyze an algorithm. So, instead of coming up with a useful algorithm that works on real world inputs, too often they'll devise something way more complicated to handle worst case scenarios or give only marginally improved performance (or none at all in the real world). Pre-optimization is a horribly Bad Thing. But so is not knowing how to use the algorithms that have already been written and optimized.

The quote is from a presentation by Sedgewick titled "Algorithms for the Masses." The whole point of it is to start teaching the fundamentals of computer science to everyone (that needs to do programming). I'd love to find a video of it somewhere, but all I've been able to come up with is the presentation slides (which themselves are worth a read through).

I think you forgot to check the sarcasm box. Right? RIGHT?!

I dragged a computer from my neighbors garbage when I was 8 years old. A 286 with a monochrome monitor. I learnt to program in BASIC then HTML then Java then turning then C then action script.
shits fun as hell.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

I think that's a good point - and goes for any career. Follow your bliss, not the money.

The will.i.am comment is just ludicrous. Why should everyone know how to code? It's like saying everyone who drives a car should be able to strip an engine or everyone who lives in a house should know how to design one. Not everyone knows how to code because honestly coding is not a useful skill for daily life and it requires years of hard work and experience to master. If you're not planning on being a programmer, there are countless other more useful things to do with your time than learn to code.

We know for a fact a few of those featured people also have employed dodgy business practices. Knowing how to build a business and make things happen is up there with coding.

while (true)
{
printf("Coding is overrated!\n");
}

4d 61 79 20 74 68 65 20 66 6f 72 63 65 20 62 65 20 77 69 74 68 20 79 6f 75 2e

... always.

I still think of things in terms of "If...then" statements.

I might get lost in the storm here but this is a bit too evangelical.

I appreciate they're trying to drum up support but when you go from this, to the mundanity of bugs, testing etc, the allure will wear off very quickly for those not actually interested in the field.

The step from those plug and play applications to introduce programming is vastly different in "fun" if you will, than actual programming. While it helps to reduce the dog moving to "moveLeft()" as a conceptualisation, the insides of the moveLeft() are deeply involved.

This may seem like a necessary skill for all people but it really isn't. This is the wrong way of looking at, the right way is for programmers now to better understand the needs of the public and provide software that reflects those needs in an approachable way.

There is divide between programmer logic and human logic and I feel resources are better spent teaching people not how to code but to have a level of understanding in the subject simply to communicate their ideas better to programmers.

That to me seems more productive than a slew of amateur work ducted tape together. What we need is abstract software that lets people do whatever they want, easily, simply and without repetition of 10million people solving the same problem for themselves simply to learn programming.

Time is better spent solving the issue of females entering Computer Science type degrees, it is still ridiculously out of a whack and if you solve that, there's your new work force.

I think programming would be a good thing to teach elementary aged kids, but not as a means toward making them programmers or software engineers. Rather it should be a tool used to teach general problem solving techniques. I haven't used any seriously, but I have seen some clever learning 'languages' that involve dragging and dropping images of procedures or actions, and then connecting them up to make a program that does something.(Scratch, I believe is a popular example). I think this is good stuff. Kids that find it particularly satisfying, should be given the option to move on to more traditional programming languages and follow that course of study.

Personally, I love programming. I get a huge kick out of it, and even when it's going badly, I'm still enjoying myself despite the frustration. I think of it as "building machines out of ideas," which is awesome. This is hardly true of everyone (even among many of my former Computer Engineering classmates who were just there because it's a solid-choice, job-prospect wise), and I definitely don't think it should be pushed as some sort of curriculum requirement.

Probably like most people in the field, I started out when I was 11 or 12 wanting to write video games, so taught myself C and assembler(which was necessary at the time). The desire to write video games faded before too long, but my love of programming continued on. This was all extra-curricicular, though, and actually in many ways was detrimental to my other studies, which I found tremendously boring. Had I been given the option earlier to follow a CS/SE/CE type curriculum primarily, I probably would have had a much happier early-schooling experience.

I understand schools in the UK tend to follow a more vocational educational arc, whereby you specialize earlier. I find the pigeonholing nature of that a little concerning (so far as I understand it), but it's better than everybody getting the same bland, little-bit-of-everything approach US public schools use.