Why Code? 13 Compelling Benefits of Learning to Code

There has been a lot of hype about getting people to learn coding with governments, schools, and even celebrities getting on the bandwagon.  A case in point, in 2016, former US president Barrack Obama, launched a $4 billion initiative (in 2016) to get every American student to learn how to code. ^{[1] [2]}

This shows the importance that governments attach to programming and the tech industry in general.

But Should everyone learn how to code?

Yes. Programming is one of those skills that can transform the lives of individuals as well as drive societal progress. It, therefore, makes sense to try and get as many people as possible into coding.

However, that does not mean turning everyone into a career coder. For some, hobby programming is more suitable. For a deeper discussion on this, see my article on hobby programming.

With that said, programming has major benefits that apply regardless of whether you do it as a career or as a hobby. In this article, I will explore these benefits and hopefully they will get you excited about learning how to code.

Benefits of learning how to code

Let us look, in detail, at the major reasons why you should learn programming.

1. Programming Can Give You a Great Career

If you want a career that will help you to build wealth, you should consider programming.

According to Forbes, 12% or 332 out of the 2,668 billionaires on their 2022 list , came from the tech sector. ^[3]

This explains why almost half of millennial millionaires (44%) are located in just one US state- California. ^[4]

With the high salaries paid by the tech companies in Silicon Valley, amassing a net worth of US$ 1 million is not that difficult. You just need to save at least $3,800 per month (45k a year) at 5% interest for 15 years.

>> Why programming is a great career for building wealth

Programming is a great career for building wealth because of:

• High-paying jobs. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, a programmer in the US earns an average annual salary of US$93,000. Even at entry-level positions, you can still bring in a decent income. ^[5]
• High Job Availability. Programming jobs are readily available, especially for people who are skilled and experienced. In 2020, the US had over 1 million unfilled IT jobs including programming jobs ^[6]  In 2021, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that there were 174,400 programming jobs available. ^[5]
• Future Job Security. Programming skills are in high demand in rapidly growing fields like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Data Science, and the Internet of Things (IoT). This means that programming skills will continue to be relevant way into the future.

2. Programming Skills Can Be Used in Diverse Fields

Larry Corey, the president of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is quoted as saying: “Knowledge of computer programming is almost as important as knowledge of anatomy when it comes to medical research or clinical care.” ^[1]

This statement is quite surprising considering how different programming is from medicine. However, when you dig deeper, you see that programming is at the center of many emerging technologies that are set to revolutionize entire industries (including health).

These emerging future-growth technologies include:

• Artificial intelligence (A.I) and machine learning
• Blockchain
• Robotics
• 5G

It is also worth noting that STEM-related careers are responsible for 67% of computer-related jobs including programming. ^[7] This means that if you have programming skills, there are many careers you can tap into outside of the traditional tech careers.

>> How programming is used in non-tech careers

Here are some of the non-tech careers where programming is extensively used.

• Business. Programming is used for business analytics/intelligence, big data, online sales and marketing, the Internet of Things (IoT), human resources management, and supply chain management.
• Health. Programming is used for data analysis, computer-assisted medical decision-making, telesurgery, mobile medicine, connected devices, and A.I for medical imaging.
• Science and research. Programming is useful in a wide range of scientific careers such as astronomy, biological research, environmental research, robotics, autonomous transport, remote sensing, and climate research among many others.
• Entertainment industry. Aspects of programming are used in technologies that are useful to the film, gaming, music, and sports industries. These include animation, 3D modeling, metaverse, augmented reality (A.R), and virtual reality (V.R).

3. You Can Teach Yourself to Code

Many high-paying careers such as medicine or engineering require that you spend years in college before you are allowed to work in the industry. This can be a problem if you don’t have the time and money to spend. Plus there is the issue of ever-increasing student debt.

With programming, you can teach yourself to code and still make a good living. Granted, a college degree will give you an edge especially if you are applying to competitive companies.

However, in coding, what matters most is your ability to do what is required. When you look at the latest developer survey from Stack Overflow, roughly 20% of professional developers have no formal degree. This is quite surprising for a career that pays so well. ^[8]

>> Why is it easy to teach yourself programming?

You can teach yourself programming as long as you have the interest and drive. Here’s why.

• There are many free and paid learning resources. You can learn programming for free or cheaply on the internet. 70% of developers learned how to code from online sources with almost 47% taking online courses. ^[8] (See the best tech courses to take).
• Large communities. Popular programming languages have large online communities around them. If you get stuck, you can always ask people who are more experienced than you.
• Some programming languages are easy to learn. If you feel intimidated by programming, you should start with a simple language. A programming language like Python has a simple syntax that reads more like English. This coupled with a few other advantages has made Python one of the most popular languages.

If you wish to teach yourself how to code, here are some great courses you can start with.

4. There Are Multiple Ways to Make Money with Programming

If you don’t like the idea of being employed and having a boss, there are many ways that you can earn an income from programming without formal employment.

You may consider the self-employment option if:

• You want the freedom to live anywhere in the world.
• You feel that you are not cut out for employment or office life.
• You want the opportunity to bring your best ideas to life.
• You want the flexibility of managing your time to prioritize the most important things in life.

With programming, you can create a business that will give you flexibility and financial freedom. Roughly 85% of developers work remotely or partially remotely. ^[8]

With many other careers, it is simply not possible to have the luxury of being able to work from wherever you want and still make good money.

>> How you can make money with programming

Here are a couple of ideas on how you can make money with programming.

• You can do freelancing work. There are many opportunities for freelance work especially in web development, app development, scripting, data analysis, and mapping. Explore sites like Fiverr and Freelancer to see examples of programming services that are in high demand.
• Create products to sell. You can sell programming software like mobile apps, WordPress themes, WordPress plugins, and automation scripts. Look at sites like the Google Play Store, Apple store, and the Envato market to see which kind of products are popular. The great thing about selling products is that you can create a product once and keep generating passive income way into the future.
• You can start a company. If you are up for a challenge, you can create a company with the hope of taking it public one day and cashing out. Founding a tech startup is hard work but worth it if you want to make a bigger impact.

5. Coding Is an Essential Skill to Teach Your Children

While it is possible to get into a programming career in your 40s or even 50s, the older you are, the more challenges you are likely to face.

According to a survey by Stack Overflow, 66% of professional programmers are between the ages of 18 and 34. ^[8] This means that if you want your kids to get into a career in computer programming, it is best to start them young.

But how soon can you get them started?

It is surprising how quickly kids take to programming if they have the right learning resources.

According to a survey by HackerRank in 2018, 26% of developers learned to code before the age of 16. Surprisingly, 4.8% of them learned to code between the ages of 5 and 10. ^[9]

Famous tech entrepreneurs also started coding quite early in life, for example. ^[10]

• Bill Gates started coding at 13 and founded Microsoft when he was 20.
• Mark Zuckerberg started coding at 11 and created Facebook when he was 20.
• Elon Musk started coding at 12 and created his first company, Zip2 when he was 24.

>> Benefits of programming for kids

Even if your kid does not become the next Bill Gates or Elon Musk, teaching them how to code can have many benefits.

• It can help them do better in school. Programming teaches kids logical thinking skills as well as helps them to become self-learners. When kids get these two skills, they can get into any discipline and master it. Coding is especially important if you want your children to do well in math and science-based subjects.
• It sets them up for a good future. 85% of jobs that will exist by 2030 have not been invented. ^[11] You can be sure that many of them will be tech related. As the world becomes more digital, you need to equip your children with the necessary skills required to help them thrive in tomorrow’s world.
• It can help them with their self-esteem. Encouraging kids to put in the effort to achieve mastery in any discipline can help them develop confidence and a sense of competence. Coding is particularly useful to master because it is a highly valued skill in society.

6. Programming Can Make a Great Hobby

According to a survey by freeCodeCamp, most people (66%) get into programming for career reasons. However, 11.4% learn programming purely as a hobby while 13.7% do so for purposes of starting a business. ^[16]

There are pros and cons to coding as a career versus coding as a hobby (see Programming as a hobby for more). For some people, programming as a hobby may be more fulfilling because:

• You can bring your ideas to life. In a formal job, many of your ideas will be shot down before you have a chance to test them out.
• You can explore your creativity. Many companies want creativity at work but no one wants to pay for time wasted exploring paths that seem like dead ends. Yet these tend to yield the most interesting results.
• You can follow your curiosity. Since you are not bound by duties and tasks, you can go down rabbit holes and experiment with different things.

Why Programming can make a good hobby

Even if you have no interest in a career in programming, you should still consider learning how to code because:

• You can use programming to enhance your other hobbies. For example, you can create websites and apps for each of your interests. You can also use programming in tech-heavy hobbies like home security, hydroponics, robotics, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino.
• You can use programming to make your life easy.  For example, you can create scripts to rename photos in batches, scrape data from the web, or automate sending of emails.
• You use programming to keep boredom at bay. Programming is a great way to keep boredom at bay because you keep challenging your brain and there is something new to learn every day. The programming landscape is constantly evolving with new frameworks, libraries, and methods popping up. 

If in the future you change your mind and decide that you want to pursue a career in programming, the transition will be smooth and quick.

7. Coding Can Make You Get Smarter

We tend to think that traits like intelligence are fixed at birth. However, the truth is that you can boost your intelligence through deliberate effort.

Programming can be an excellent tool to force your brain to expand its capabilities much in the same way a bodybuilder uses weights to build muscle.

There is a lot of scientific evidence backing up this idea of using programming to exercise your brain.

For example, a 2014 study used fMRI to observe the brains of programmers while they were coding. The study found that coding uses parts of the brain that are associated with language processing, memory, and attention. ^[12]

>> How coding can help you become smarter

In addition to exercising your brain, coding can help you to become smarter in several other ways.

• It changes the way you think. Programming helps you adopt a structured, logical, and orderly way of thinking. This explains why many successful entrepreneurs (such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, or Bill Gates) are or have been coders.
• It teaches you how to find information. In programming, you frequently find yourself in situations where you cannot find solutions to your problems. You are forced to search elsewhere and this helps you to learn how and where to find solutions.
• It encourages experimentation. In programming, many solutions you find may not work in your case. Therefore, you need to keep experimenting through trial and error until you find the appropriate solution.

8. Programming Can Make You More Creative

In addition to making you smarter, programming can make you more creative.

But what is creativity?

Creativity is the ability to generate or recognize ideas that may be useful to solve problems, entertain, or communicate with others. ^[13]

For you to be creative, you need the ability to:

• Develop original work either through generating your own ideas or transforming other people’s ideas.
• Come up with new approaches to solve problems or provide value to others.

When viewed through this lens, you can see that programming is a highly creative activity at different levels and several studies have been able to demonstrate this. ^[14]

Learning how to be creative can be a great asset in your personal and professional life. We tend to lose our creativity as we age because we fail to use it.

If you want to halt this loss of creativity, you need to exercise your brain regularly and programming is a great way to do that.

>> How programming makes you more creative

Here is how programming helps you to be more creative

• It forces you to solve problems. When things don’t work out in programming, you are forced to look for alternative ways to achieve your goals. When you frequently expose your brain to challenges, it develops the capacity to see new ways of doing things.
• It compels you to learn other creative skills. In your programming journey, you will need other creative skills to complement your programming skills. For example, if you are a web developer, you might need web design skills to become well-rounded. Other creative skills you may pick up in the course of a programming career include Graphic Design, UI design, Animation, and Photography.
• It forces you to see the big picture. To create a successful product or service, you need the ability to look at things from multiple angles. You need to clearly understand what people want and then find a way to give it to them in the most efficient way.

9. Programming Can Help You Improve Your Mental Health

Many mental health challenges can be traced, directly or indirectly, to money

According to a recent survey by the American Psychological Association,  65% of Americans say that money is a significant cause of stress in their lives. ^[15]

Money-related stress can have other knock-on effects that feed into the cycle of mental breakdown. These include:

• Health issues.  These occur when you start using food and alcohol to deal with stress. Your health starts to suffer as you drink more, gain weight, and avoid going to the hospital because you cannot afford it.
• Breakups. Long-term relationships that are unable to weather the financial storms will break and this can come with significant mental anguish.

>> How does programming improve your mental health?

Money problems are solved by money. However, getting more money may require transitioning into a better-paying career. Programming can help you do this and much more.

• Programming can give you the skills required to make good money. In programming, there are plenty of well-paying jobs that are readily available. In fact, there is a shortage of tech professionals.
• Programming gives you flexibility. You can work remotely which gives you the ability to manage your time without having someone on your back. You can also avoid office-related conflicts.
• Programming gives you logical thinking skills. Poor thinking patterns are at the root of many mental problems. Cognitive distortions like fortune telling, magical thinking, polarized thinking, and catastrophizing can be limited by practicing logical, strategic, and analytical thinking.

10. Programming Will Help You Contribute to Society

Deep inside, many people have a hunger to make a difference and help make life better for others. Although it is in our nature to want to help, we often fail miserably because we lack the skills and expertise to do it.

Programming is one of those valuable skills that can help us make an outsized difference in our communities. When you look at many of the conveniences we take for granted, many of them are tech-related, for example.

• Amazon. You can order anything online from the comfort of your home and have it delivered in a couple of hours.
• Uber. You can order a taxi and know exactly how much you will pay beforehand.
• Airbnb. You can go to any country and be assured of getting affordable accommodation even before you get there.

It is strange to think that just a couple of decades ago, none of these existed.

You too have the opportunity to make your own mark on the world or in your community.

>> How you can make an impact with your programming skills

Here are some ways you can make an impact through programming.

• You can create useful products and services. You can use your programming skills to solve real-world problems that affect many people. You don’t need to be rich to do it. Many famous companies were bootstrapped into existence. For example, Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook from his college dorm.
• You can help bring ideas to life. With programming skills, you can actualize your ideas (and those of others). Many life-changing ideas wither on the vine because people do not have the right skills to actualize them.
• You can contribute to open-source projects. Where would we be if people did not create software and give us for free? Open-source projects have democratized access to many important technologies that society relies on to function. When you have programming skills, it allows you to pay it forward.

11. Programming Helps You to Understand the World of Technology

For many people, the digital world seems like a big black box. Although we use many tech products and services, we don’t understand their inner workings. As a result, we can easily become fearful or suspicious of technology.

Given the oversized role that technology plays in our modern world, being a technophobe can put you at a significant disadvantage.

To overcome this limitation, you need to put effort into understanding and being comfortable around tech. Learning how to code can help with this.

>> Benefits of understanding the world of technology

Here are some benefits that can come from being tech-savvy.

• You can spot opportunities before others do. Early adopters of technology get a head start over others. For example, people who understood crypto and got in early were able to make huge profits before other people got in.
• It can help you avoid exploitation. If you don’t have a grasp of tech, others can take advantage of your ignorance to overcharge you for very simple tasks. For example, creating a blog or website is something you can easily do in less than 30 minutes yet you could easily end up paying a small fortune for this.
• It helps you to leverage new technology. New technology can give you an edge in your business or career. However, if you cannot understand a particular technology, you will not know how best to integrate it.

12. Coding Teaches You Crucial Life Skills

Programming can be easy to start but difficult to master. For you to progress to a higher level, you need to develop some crucial life skills.

It can be frustrating and difficult to go through this transformation process of shedding your old habits, thought patterns, and beliefs.

However, the rewards of sticking through the process are immense and they will impact every facet of your life.

>> Crucial life skills you get from programming

Here are some of the crucial life skills you get from programming.

• Programming teaches you persistence. Finding workable solutions or debugging broken code can be a pain and it takes persistence not to give up. Programming can train you not to give up at the first sign of an obstacle.
• Programming teaches you independence. Learning programming on your own teaches you how to come up with your own projects, organize your time efficiently and depend on yourself for solutions to your problems.
• Programming teaches you how to collaborate. Whether you are employed or a freelancer, you will have to work with others (customers, employees, managers) to achieve a particular objective. These social skills are important if you want to advance in your career

13. Programming Can Help You to Connect With Others

Loneliness is becoming a big problem in many parts of the world.

When you think of solutions to loneliness, programming is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. In fact, programming is generally seen as a solitary activity that leads to loneliness.

To understand how programming can help deal with loneliness, it is necessary to understand what causes it.

What causes loneliness?

If you feel isolated and out of touch with others, it could be because of.

• Lack of shared passions. People tend to connect over deeply held passions.
• Lack of shared vision and purpose. Shared success and failure help to create long-lasting bonds.
• A feeling of not being needed. If you feel like you do not provide value or are a burden to others, you may be tempted to isolate yourself.

So how does programming help overcome these hurdles?

>> How programming can help you to connect with others

You can use programming to share your passions, develop in-demand skills, and create projects that transform the lives of others. This can help you to connect powerfully with others.

Here are some ideas you can try.

• You can attend coding-related activities. There are many programming conferences, meetups, boot camps, and hackathons that you can attend and meet new people. In such events, you can meet potential collaborators, investors, or employers.
• You can work on other people’s projects. Working on collaborative projects can help you learn how to look at things from other people’s points of view. This is great for creating harmony but you also get a lot of interesting ideas from others.
• You can volunteer. Programming skills are in high demand in all kinds of industries and you can easily find ways to use your skills for a worthy cause. For example, you can teach underprivileged kids how to code or mentor up-coming coders.

Wrapping Up

Hopefully, this article has given you a few “a-ha” moments regarding why you should learn to code even if you have no intention of doing coding as a career.

While you might have to put in a lot of time, effort, and money, the sacrifices are worth it in the end.