What is Coding?

You must’ve heard the craze around learning how to code, but what exactly is coding? Coding is what makes it possible for us to create and develop apps, websites and computer software. Coding is also sometimes referred to as computer programming, and is the method by which we communicate with our computers. Code tells a computer what to do, simply put code is the instructions which computers follow, writing code is similar to writing instructions for your computer to follow exactly. By learning how to code and program a computer, you can learn how to write specific and more complex instructions for a computer in a more efficient manner. Computer code is incredibly vital to everyday life. Almost every single electronic device you utilize relies solely on code. The way things work can sometimes be quite confusing, however, when you begin to break it down, it becomes very simple.

Learning to code can be an incredibly valuable skill that could eventually benefit you and provide you with opportunities, whether it be getting a job in the tech industry or simply learning a new hobby, learning to code will bring you a more well rounded individual. The important thing to be aware of is the fact that anyone can learn how to code! Information technology and computer jobs are growing exponentially in the United States and internationally. There is not necessarily a need for a Computer Science degree, there are more and more high-income jobs that are emerging daily for newer learners.

Those who make and write code, are named programmers, developers or coders. They all work to develop apps, websites as well as games. Computers have their own language called Machine Code which instructs them what to do. As you can see below, it’s not very easy to understand!

Each number or letter is instructing the computer to change something within its memory. This could be a word or number, or even a picture. Without code, computers are completely useless, and unable to do anything themself. It is a developer’s job to give computers instructions by which they can complete tasks. It is possible for one to learn Machine Code but it would be incredibly time consuming, luckily there is an easier and simpler way to communicate and instruct computers, this is where programming languages come in.

Now, this looks like it’s easier to understand! Within this picture we are shown how to tell a computer to say Hello, world instead of having to use machine code, we use a programming language, called Python. Nearly all programming languages function the same way:

1. You write code to tell the computer what to do: print(“Hello, world”).
2. The code is then compiled, which is when it changes to machine code, that a computer can understand.
3. The computer executes the code, and writes Hello, world back to us.

There are hundreds of different programming languages out there, which can be slightly overwhelming, however, it is settling to learn that all of them do the same thing. You type in what you would like the computer to do, in a way that the computer understands, and the compiler turns that into a language that the computer can interpret and execute!

All in all, coding is the process of utilizing a programming language to get a computer to do what you want it to. Every line of code tells the computer to do something, and a document full of lines of code, is named a script. Every script is designed to carry out a specific task. Unlike people, computers will do exactly that you tell them to do, this might sound like a great thing, but it can cause some issues to arise. If you instruct a computer to count upwards, and don’t specify when to stop, it’ll keep counting forever! Being a good developer is all about knowing exactly how to tell a computer to act.