I always pictured myself a “follow your dreams” kind of parent, but I have come to realize that I should add a “but first learn to code” disclosure. It is blindly apparent how important technology is, and if you know how to build technology, even the basics, well that’s just pure gold.
But not all of us fancy ourselves the tech-type, though that doesn’t stop us from having big ideas and frustrations about building them. What do you do then? Wait for a developer to quote you a colossal rate and then wait some more to have it built? Or, do you learn to build it yourself? Though the latter seems wildly intimidating, it’s actually possible.
And for those working for a startup, learning to code will help you learn your product and it may just be your best friend.
The Editor Turned Coder
Melissa McCreery edits the site for Companies at The Daily Muse, a (pretty awesome) site that features comprehensive company profiles for female job seekers. She thought of an idea to create a section that listed all the job openings from the 34 companies featured on the site.
Since the development team was busy with a higher priority task, Melissa decided to build the feature herself. Two month of studying “Learn Python the Hard Way” and six days of building later, the feature was built. And, she swears it wasn’t that hard, adding that the “language has become more accessible.”
So, where can the non-tech wannabies learn this accessible language and increase their code credentials? Here are a few sites to start with.
Github
I covered Github a few weeks ago after they secured $100 million in funding, and it’s definitely a great resource for de-coding code. As a social coding site, users can share the codes their working on, comment and help other build software. The community of coders happy to share their secrets will make even the most reluctant non-tech pupil feel comfortable.
Codecademy
Codecademy’s co-founders Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinski were just named Inc’s 30 Coolest Entrepreneurs under 30 for 2012, and with good reason. They’ve created a site specifically for the technically inept to learn to code. I’m talking to you, article reader. Check it out.
Code Avengers
I also had a recent interview with Code Avenger’s founder Michael Walmsley, who created the game-based code-learning site after trying to get his younger brother interested in web development. If you want to learn code in a more fun, competitive way, this is a site you should visit.
Us regular non-geeks now have the tools to compete with the code monkeys and build our own ideas or improve existing ones, all by our lonesome. Or, at the very least, learn the sexiest language in the World Wide Web to try and impress… well… other geeks, I guess. Though, I’d imagine you’re new code talents would best be used by building.
