Can you code

Software architect and entrepreneur Mark Billion says his coding knowledge has benefited him in unexpected ways as a business professional. The ability to code allowed Billion to automate menial tasks that ultimately saved him money. For those who work closely with programmers and developers, learning the basics of coding can make you a much more valuable member of a team. Knowing just enough to be useful can still be a positive asset in most business environments.

Why learn to code? As you can see, there are plenty of good reasons why coding is important. But you still need to know—how long does it take to learn to code? By exploring your career options, you can also find more reasons that answer—why should I learn to code?

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Employment conditions in your area may vary. It has since been updated to include information relevant to There are some errors in the form. Please correct the errors and submit again. By selecting "Submit," I authorize Rasmussen University to contact me by email, phone or text message at the number provided. There is no obligation to enroll. Hannah Meinke is a writer at Collegis Education.

She enjoys helping people discover their purpose and passion by crafting education and career-related content on behalf of Rasmussen University. Posted in Web Programming. Brianna Flavin Henry Apr 20, Why is the image the windows blue screen of death? Apr 25, Hi, Henry!

Sometimes, coding occurs on a blue screen. Great descriptions! Electr1XC0der May 3, Ariana Gutierrez Jan 30, I love technology,I know a little bit because I am in a technology club. Have a nice day! Feb 2, Ben Jan 26, Jan 29, Paris Jan 25, If you go on "Hour of Code, you can code, but it is easy. Why do we need to learn to code? What if you want to program when you grow up? Then you'll need to learn to code or you're gonna look like a fool.

Jan 26, Thanks for the tip! We're glad you like this Wonder! Devin Jan 22, Mollie Dec 15, Is there a never ending line of code behind binary code? Dec 19, I have written over lines of code with a website called code. Dec 18, That's awesome, 25bsmith!!

Jerome Dec 12, Dec 15, We believe so, Jerome!! What have you coded on Scratch? Fredrick Dec 12, Tess Bryant Dec 6, Our school will be doing an hour of code. Dec 10, That's awesome, Tess! Thanks for sharing, Fredrick!! Katie Dec 12, Just go to code.

Thanks for the information, Katie!! Jason Dec 11, Dec 14, That's awesome, Jason! How long have you been able to code? LauB Dec 8, Hi, Wonder Friend!! We would LOVE for you to join the discussion!!! With teacher guides and lessons, you can introduce the basics on iPad, then advance to building real apps on Mac. Learn more about Swift.

Get access to free technical resources like video and sample code. Educator Forums about the Developer Site. Learn more about Books, Courses and Apps. Everyone Can Code Technology has a language.

So, what is code anyway? Front-facing iPhone with food ordering app showing a variety of restaurant options. Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. Don't worry too much about what language you pick. Many beginning coders struggle with what language to pick when they first start learning. Because they don't know where to start with their first code. The actual language that you start learning on doesn't make a big difference when it comes to learning about data structures and logic.

These are the skills that matter most, and they can be honed with any language. If you make coding a career, you will find that you may never use the language that you first learned to code. Instead, you will be learning languages as you go through documentation and experimentation.

Find free resources online for the language you choose. The internet is a treasure trove of free tutorials, classes, and videos, all tailored towards the language of your choice. You can start getting a basic grasp of just about any introductory language in a day. Popular sites include Bento, CodeAcademy, Code. There are a variety of language-specific starter guides available right here on wikiHow. You can find how-to guides for almost any programming scenario on YouTube.

Download a good text editor. Many programming languages allow you to use external text editors when you write your code. Find a text editor that will allow you to see indentations and code markup. Download any necessary compilers. Some programming languages require a compiler in order to run the code that you create.

Compilers translate the code you write into a lower-level language that the machine can process. Many compilers are open-source and free to use.

Start your first project. Pick a good introductory project that will help you get your feet wet. There are a variety of suggestions and tutorials online, but some places to start are basic websites for HTML , basic database and form functions with PHP , or simple programs with any of the compiler languages.

Comment all of your code. All programming languages have a comment feature that allows you to enter text that is ignored by the compiler. This allows you to add comments to your code. These comments are crucial, both for letting others know how your code works and for reminding yourself what your code does.

You can also use the comment function to quickly remove code from your program for testing purposes. Put comment tags around the code you want to exclude and then remove the comment tags to return the code. Pick apart other programs or web projects. When you're learning as you go, don't be ashamed to look things up and see how others have tackled the same tasks.

Take time to understand why the code is doing what it does. See this guide for details on how to view the source code of websites. Method 2. Take classes. Community colleges, tech schools and online programs offer certifications and classes that will help you get a job as well as teaching you programming. An advanced degree like Computer Science is not always necessary, but could help to get a full time programming job.

Classes can get expensive, so weigh the benefits. If programming is just a hobby, classes may not be worth the time and money. If you want to turn programming into a career, classes can give you a big boost but again, it's far from necessary if you have the talent.

Expand your knowledge. Beyond simply learning programming languages, you will benefit a lot from logic and mathematics classes, as these are often required for advanced programming.

You don't necessarily need to learn this at school, but classroom settings can help.