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EDD DUMBILL: Code is basically what
you tell a computer to make it do something.
So it's the common language between people
and the computer.
EVAN KORTH: Knowing how to code gives you
magical powers to make your devices
do what you want them to do.
ADDA BIRNIR: Code is extremely intimidating
to a lot of people, and I think it
has to do with this issue of us not knowing what it is,
or where it is, or what it looks like.
CHRYS WU: Regardless of what industry
you're in, if you know how to bend the computer to your will,
it's useful for all sorts of different things.
EVAN KORTH: Code is a word to describe
the instructions we give a machine to execute a program.
When we first developed general purpose machines,
we programmed them using soldering irons, and wires,
and switches.
Eventually, we got to the point where
we were programming them using symbols, ones and zeros,
to indicate on and off for electrical impulses.
These first languages were called machine languages.
Because it was very hard to program
in the ones and zeros that make up a machine language,
we came up with assembly languages,
which through one way or the other,
are designed to make it easier for humans to write programs.
There are classic languages, like C and C++, and Java.
And these days, Python and Ruby are very popular languages.
It is important for people to understand
what it is that coders do.
As we go about our day, think about how many devices you use,
a coder is telling you what you can and cannot do on that
device.
As a simple user of technology, you're living in her world.
CHRYS WU: This notion of learning about code
and learning to code hasn't really
permeated throughout society yet.
These days, I think it is important to at least have
a basic understanding with the technology
that you come in contact with every day.
If you believe that information is power,
then those people who understand code
are always going to be at an advantage.
The way in which we interact with all the things around us
are shaped by the people who can create
the conduits through which we go about our daily lives.
For those people who touch the results of code,
but they don't actually build the things with code,
their perspectives won't be included in the result.
ADDA BIRNIR: The problem is there is just
a general lack of diversity in the technology field.
You have a situation right now where
you have a work force that is overwhelmingly masculine,
overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly young,
creating solutions for everybody.
The problem with having such an undiverse workforce
is that you're going to end up with certain blind spots.
I'm not trying to argue that men can't solve problems for women,
or women can't solve problems for men, or anything like that.
But I think one of the challenges that's
happening in tech is that you have all this software being
built that doesn't really understand the end user
experience.
Like, who's going to use it, what
are they going to do with it, how
are they going to live with it?
I think we all these experiences of opening up
a website, or a web app, and kind of being like,
I'm trying to accomplish like, the one thing this web app
is supposed to do, and I can't do it because it's built wrong.
It's hard to say what problems would be solved
with a more diverse workforce.
But I would just say that there's
a lot of efforts, and a lot of talent and creativity
that is going into solving problems that nobody has.
And think that is like, one of the things
that we're really going to see change
as the industry develops, and really becomes something
that everyone's participating in.
EDD DUMBILL: I think we're at this interesting transition
in computer science.
One, I think coding is fun and delightful.
And if everybody did it, that would be great,
because it's really satisfying.
But inevitably, we're not going to have
everybody with those skills.
People have different interests, different abilities.
On the other hand, I think programming is so damn literal.
You work with a person and you say,
can you go to the coffee shop and get me a latte?
But to computer now you'd said, OK, go out the door,
turn left, move 10 paces, go into the store, ask for this,
get money.
You know.
And it doesn't need to be.
It's putting too much on us.
It's generating more work for us at the same time
as it's allegedly solving it.
Computers should be able to do a lot more programming
themselves.
When you program, you generate a model in your head,
and then you tell the computer.
And if you match the computer, then the program works.
But how dumb.
Why do you need to have the computer in your head
and have the computer?
So in my world, not everybody needs to know how to code,
and computers actually become a lot better at serving humans.
And we can have this turnaround right now,
we're kind of selling them, and doing things their way.
It'd much better when they do things our way.
EVAN KORTH: It's not necessarily that everybody becomes
a computer programmer, but I think
as we look towards the future, it is in everyone's best
interest to know what code is, and the general concepts
behind writing code.
EDD DUMBILL: Programming as we know it now
I think is very exciting, but it's not forever.
The range of creativity is only going to get larger.
Like it or not, code is a new and very dominant form
of human communication.
And the more that you're able to empower yourself
with those communication skills, the better you're going to do.
CHRYS WU: I think that we should look at code
and being able to code as just useful to us
as being able to read and write.
That's really how we should think about coding.
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