In many software professional internet spaces, I’ve found that the “anyone can code” culture dominates, glorifying success stories of self-taught developers, and propelled by fast-paced coding boot camps and self-paced, online, non-academic courses. There is some merit to the idea that “anyone can code”, and many developers have benefited from that culture, including myself, as I am fortunate enough to hold a good programming job while in the process of pursuing my Computer Science degree. But is it right to evangelize software skills and careers and lower the barriers of entry to them the way the “anyone can code” movement does? In my last post, I discussed the critical need for standards in Software Engineering. I believe that working on software should be taken just as or even more seriously than other engineering tasks such as building a bridge. But “gatekeeping” software skills by limiting their acquisition to academic entities is a highly unpopular idea. It runs face-first into the socioeconomic challenges of higher education in America, and does little to address the growing mismatch between the skills jobs require and the skills jobseekers actually have. I do not 100% agree with the “anyone can code” mantra, and I hold fast to the importance of professional standards in technology roles. But the “anyone can code” movement should not be rejected outright, as it seems to provide a practical solution to address the growing job-market-mismatch problem and circumvent the volatility of higher education.
I agree. Occasionally noble ideas and good causes get out of hand and need to be reeled back into reality. This is one good example. Also, people need to remember that people can be very different so one approach to life might not be the best for everyone and that we should try to accommodate multiple lenses when looking at the world.
Taking anything too far in any direction leads to negative outcomes. Both ideas have merit. Coding standards are important but there are good programers who haven’t followed a traditional academic path.
I’ve had a couple friends that participated in boot camps and then got jobs. I have no other experience than that, but they weren’t super happy with their jobs. They felt that their jobs weren’t really about solving problems as much as just doing the typing for someone else’s job. I’ve also noticed that most bootcamps are mainly focused on html and cs. I think creating software should be treated seriously, but I don’t know how much the “anyone can code” mentality is really putting anything at risk. I think it’s more creating a different type of labor force. Again I don’t have much experience with the bootcamps, but there is a reason I didn’t choose to participate in them and instead went for the more difficult computer science degree.
Very interesting! Honestly I wish that the barrier to programming was even lower. Many of the best contributions to Computer Science were contributions from other disciplines: not only is Computer Science inherently derived from Mathematics, but Software Architecture Patterns derived much of its inspiration from the field of Architecture, Artificial Intelligence intersects with Neuroscience, and UI Design draws upon Human Psychology and Physiology. The lower the bar to programming, the more commentary Computer Science enjoys from other fields. In other words, the health of Computer Science improves as it becomes more approachable by outsiders. Beyond this, the demystification of programming helps to even just have productive discussions in relation to it. “The internet is made of tubes” is the embarrassing kind of thing that happens when the field is too arcane to the ones trying to have a conversation about it. https://youtu.be/f99PcP0aFNE
Great thoughts. I frequently play video games, but I have found that games qualities aren’t holding up in modern times. Either the game is ridden with bugs, or just doesn’t feel right. It’s like the bar has been lowered. Its unfortunate because in any degree, something (a program, a game, etc) could be higher quality of the bar/standard was set higher and that can only be achieved if the workers are pushed that way as well.
The demand for coders is just too high to ignore the “anyone can code” method. We need more people coding to fill all the needs for them. When we have enough people coding that the job market dies down naturally the field will be able to have higher standards.