Comments on: Should you learn to code?

By: adoption curve dot net » Blog Archive » links for 2010-01-20

adoption curve dot net » Blog Archive » links for 2010-01-20 — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:08:04 +0000

[...] Should you learn to code? at Helpful Technology "Up until now, as a journalist you worked with information, researching facts and figures which then you passed on to the reader. However, in a digital world there are more platforms you can use to convey that information – think of maps or mobile applications, augmented reality. And to be able to do that you will have know how to code." (tags: ideas management code development) [...]

By: Niddler

Niddler — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:05:33 +0000

@PaulG – definitely. I’ve sat through my fair share of meetings of that kind – some with “corporate partners” whose presentations have me thinking throughout “I seriously hope no one in this room knows anything about computers”…

Steph – Fifteen years ago you and I were also communicating via the internet and competing (in a friendly way) over personal website design – *Netscape 3.0 Gold* – woo!

By: Digital Storytelling » Blog Archive » Digital Storytelling: the Course

Digital Storytelling » Blog Archive » Digital Storytelling: the Course — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:43:15 +0000

[...] I think it may have some value in the end. At the same time, it doesn’t hurt to read posts like this that suggests learning a bit of code and how the web works both generally and specifically may not [...]

By: Digital Storytelling: the Course at bavatuesdays

Digital Storytelling: the Course at bavatuesdays — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:39:14 +0000

By: Todd

Todd — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:32:44 +0000

Jack-of-all-trades is the new ‘expert’ !

One needs to adapt and evolve at every turn in the digital workplace.

As someone who loves learning, I’m all about it.

By: Andrew Hedges

Andrew Hedges — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:07:46 +0000

The analogy with auto mechanics is a good one. I’m a professional web developer, but even I leave certain things (serious security implementations, server administration, etc.) to people who know those niches better than me.

Learning some HTML (at least) is like being able to change the oil in your car. It’s simple enough that pretty much anyone can learn the basics and will save you time and money over the long haul.

Great post!

By: Paul Evans

Paul Evans — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:56:20 +0000

I read this just after listening to this podcast from Peter Day’s ‘In Business’ programme about how management is about understanding how systems work:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio/worldbiz/worldbiz_20100114-2030a.mp3

Worth a listen if any of you have a moment.

By: John Adams

John Adams — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:38:21 +0000

Good article. As a professional developer, I welcome more people understanding how things work and their hidden complexity. But do beware the wisdom of the bedroom programmer – I was once told that it would be possible to develop an HR system over a weekend!

One of the beauties of the modern web is that a little coding can get you a long way. You don’t need to understand OOP, C# or the .NET Framework to add a tweak to a WordPress theme, or even to write a plugin. One of my challenges in managing a dev team is to encourage people to use other people’s code – the “not written here” syndrome. WordPress and other packages are beginning to help win this battle.

But you do need to understand your limitations, and defer to the professionals where necessary. Of course, we’re always open to challenge, as long as you can put up with the lengthy techy response.

@Will, the reality is, we never know how long it will take until it’s done.

By: Steph

Steph — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:58:42 +0000

@Dave – me, actually I’ve caused all the problems I list personally, but it takes time and experience to figure out when you’re starting to get into dangerous territory.

@Will @PaulG – yes, the bullshit detection aspect is very useful – good point, that I’d missed!

@Nick – it’s a tough call. HTML is probably best, along with CSS. With that pair, you can see results quickly and start to customise your profiles, blogs etc to get immediate satisfaction. But Matt’s right too that some of the basic programming concepts of arrays and loops, as well as HTTP concepts like cookies and form processing are probably where it starts to get really interesting – and I’d say you can’t beat PHP for an easy way into some of those.

Inspired by Dave Briggs, I’ve started an Amazon affiliate bookstore of selected books I’d recommend on these topics – the PHP Visual QuickStart books are particularly good.

By: Dave Briggs

Dave Briggs — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:50:10 +0000

Yeah, Will and Paul are right to pick up on the bullshit detection side of things. It’s incredibly handy having someone who knows how hard things are to do around – even if they can’t do them themselves.

But – ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing’ – true, and I can’t guess who you might have been thinking of when you wrote that…