"Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer...
because it teachers you how to think."
>> Bill: created Microsoft I was 13 when I first got access to a computer.
>> Jack: created Twitter My parents bought me a Macintosh in 1984 when I was eight years old.
I was in sixth grade
I learned to code in college.
>> Ruchi: First female engineer at Facebook. Freshman year first semester, Intro to Computer Science.
I wrote a program that played Tic-tac-toe.
>> Drew: Created Dropbox I think it was pretty humble beginnings. I think the first program I wrote asked
things like, What's your favorite color? Or, How old are you?
>> Elena: Created Clothia.com I first learned how make a green circle and a red square appear on the screen.
>> Gabe: Created Valve The first time I actually had something come up
and say "Hello World", and I made a computer do that,
it was just astonishing.
>> Mark: Created Facebook Learning how to program didn't start off as wanting to learn
all of Computer Science
or trying to master this discipline or
anything like that.
it just started off because I wanted to do
this one simple thing.
I want to make something that was fun for myself and and my sisters.
I wrote this little program
then basically just add a little bit to it.
Then when I needed to learn something new
I looked it up either in a book or on the Internet
and then added a little bit to it.
It's really not unlike kind of playing an instrument or something
or playing a sport.
It starts out being very intimidating,
but you kind of get the hang of it over time.
>> Chris: NBA All-Star, Coded in College Coding is something that can be learned and...
I know it can be intimidating...
a lot of things are intimidating, but...
you know, what isn't?
>> Makinde: Early Facebook engineer A lot of the coding that people do is actually fairly simple.
It's more about the process of breaking down problems
than coming up with
complicated algorithms as people traditionally think about it.
>> Vanessa: Created Girl Develop IT You don't have to be a genius to know how to code. You need to be determined.
Addition, subtraction...that's about about it.
>> Tony: CEO @ Zappos You should probably know your multiplication tables.
>> Bronwen: Technical artist at Valve You don't have to be a genius to code. Do you have to be a genius to read?
Even if you want to become a race car driver or play baseball
or... you know
build a house... all of these things have been turned upside down by software.
What is it, is you know, computers are everywhere.
You want to work in agriculture?
Do you want to work in entertainment? Do you want to work in manufacturing?
It's just all over.
Here we are, 2013
>> Will.I.Am: Created The Black Eyed Peas, Now taking coding classes We all depend on technology to communicate, to bank...
...information...
and none of us know how to read and write code.
When I was in school I was in the this after school group called the Whiz Kids
and when people found out they laughed at me and you know, all these things and I'm like
"Man I don't care! I think it's cool and I'm learning a lot and
some of my friends have jobs!"
Our policy is literally to hire as many talented engineers as we can find.
The whole limit in the system is that there just aren't enough people who are
trained and have these skills today.
To get the very best people we try to make the office
as awesome as possible.
We have a fantastic chef.
free food
breakfast, lunch and dinner.
free laundry
Snacks
even places to play
video games and scooters
there's always kinds of interesting things
around the office where people can play, or relax,
or go to think, or play music or be creative.
>>HADI: Created Code.Org Whether you're trying to make a lot of money or whether you just want to change the world,
Computer programming is an incredibly empowering skill to learn.
I think if someone had told me that
software is really about humanity, that it's really about helping people
by using computer technology
it would have changed my outlook a lot earlier.
To be able to actually come up with an idea and then see it in your hands and then be able to press a button
and have it be in millions of people hands, I mean, I think we're the first
generation in the world that's really ever had that kind of experience.
Just to think that you can start something in your college dorm room and you can have a set of people
who haven't built a big company before come together and build something that
a billion people use as part of their daily lives...
It's crazy to think about, right? It's really, it's humbling and it's amazing.
The programmers of tomorrow are the wizards of the future.
You know, you're going look like you have magic powers compared to everybody else.
It's amazing. It's, it's the closest thing we have to a super power.
Great coders are today's Rock Stars. That's it!
1 million of the best jobs in America may go unfilled...
...because only 1 in 4 schools teach students how to code.
Whether you want to be a doctor or a rockstar,
ask about a coding class at your school
or learn online at Code.org
Share this film and visit Code.org.