Running Head: Computer Programming and Coding the Future

Computer Programming and Coding the Future

Zach Hlas

University of Mount Union

Abstract
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The goal of this paper is to inform readers about computer programming and coding. It will

discuss what a career is typically like and what one would need to become a programmer or

coder. This paper will also discuss why it is important, or at least would be very beneficial, to

have classes in the subject of programming or coding in education besides college. The biggest

part about coding is having the experience in the field. There are so many different computer

languages and possibilities that it is highly unlikely that one would only see one computer

language in their lifetime. Having the classes in the middle schools or high schools would allow

for an advantage for the students to get ahead in the field. There are tools, LEGO Mindstorm for

example, made to make the programming easier for young students so they can get the

experience. Programming and coding are used in almost every facet of life. Anything that uses

any sort of technology was most likely coded at some point. The programmers are constantly

updating and fixing programs in use and the career is a wide open field for anyone who wants to

take it.

Deciding which school to go to after primary education is a very big decision and the

next biggest is deciding what to study. Your education determines your career which ultimately

can define the rest of your life. Careers that are growing are most enticing because of the
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availability of jobs when graduation comes around. One industry that is growing rather quickly is

computer programming and coding. Both relate very closely to each other, yet are different

subjects. Coding is relatable to speaking another language. Just like there are many different

types of languages, there are many different types of coding languages. Programming is more

making a command that can be used by a computer to complete a task. Some examples would be

solving math problems or making a robot pick up a box. Coding is considered a way of the future

because of its wide use and multitude of applications. We could soon see coding become an

integral part of education, which would be beneficial to the students and their futures. Although

they are very similar, there are many advantages to both. The advantages make the decision

much harder for a those interested.

As previously stated, coding is very similar to speaking in another language. Computers

speak in very complicated, yet, once mastered, simple languages that can do a multitude of

different tasks. Coding is so complicated because it has to be very specific. After writing

hundreds of lines of code, one colon could be missing from line 32 which would cause the whole

code to derail and fail. Every little detail matters, no matter how small. As much as it is

complicated with exactness, coding can be very simple once learned and practiced for hours

upon hours. Master coders spend all of their time coding and perfecting their code writing

abilities. Coders have very important jobs in the technological world. Their job is to “translate

the requirements into machine understandable language.” (Top 7 Differences Between Coding

vs Programming, 2018) In more simpler terms, their job is to take English commands, walk

forward 10 steps for example, and put them into a binary language that computers can

understand. This binary code has to deal with two numbers, hence binary. The binary numbers

are 1 and 0. The computer will run the code and determine if it is a 1 or a 0. 1 means yes and 0
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means no. So thinking about it visually, it is very similar to a flow chart. The computer will read

line 1 and determine if which of the two numbers it is and then maybe go to line 2 if its a 0, or

line 3 if its a 1. Sounds easy, but with so many possibilities, coding can get very tough. With this

being said, there are also many different types of coding languages, just as there’s English,

French, and Spanish. According to devsaran.com, the most popular coding language in 2015 was

Python. In second, was Java, and third was C++. (B, 2015) Python is a very big coder of web

apps and user interfaces, which are very heavily involved in the use of cell phones, the

technology that runs our worlds. Java is very similar because it deals with mobile devices also,

mainly Android phones. Java has a very large advantage because it is very easy to learn. The

disadvantage for Java and advantage for Python has to deal with its possibilities. Java does not

have as wide of a range as Python, meaning Python can evaluate much wider and larger data sets

than Java. Python is used by very large technology companies, whereas Java is used mainly by

smaller users for less wide scale coding jobs. C++ is the last language mentioned and is used by

Windows. Also, it is the oldest computer language known. It is used to form a lot of other coding

software and is highly recommended to be learned by all new coders because of its wide use and

is based in so many other coding software packages. The last coding language that will be

mentioned is MATLAB. MATLAB is a software used here at Mount Union by the students. It is

not as widely used as other software because it only has mathematical applications. Coding is

often considered a subset of programming because the first steps of programming, are coding.

Programming is the implementation of the code written. (Masters, 2018) Programming is

used in highly advanced technologies. For example, when a code is written, it is in very general

terms. Programming is used to apply that code to specific uses and tailor the code to specific

technologies. It is the “process of developing an executable machine level program which can be
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implemented without any error.” (Top 7 Differences Between Coding vs Programming, 2018)

Simplified, programs are used to work directly with human inputs and create correct and

accurate outputs. A personal example that has been a school assignment, is a program in

MATLAB that determines what initial velocity a ball needs to have to travel a certain horizontal

distance and the moment that is needed to propel that ball that far. This program requires inputs

from a human user, such as: the horizontal distance needed to travel, weight of ball, weight of

swinging arm, and desired launch angle. Being a beginner, it is a very basic code that has a very

specific use. A more professional coder could write a similar code that could be applied to many

different uses in math. Putting it together, I wrote the code and the program is used to find

desired outcomes. A more professional and large-scale use example are video games. The games

are the programs because humans use them and input different commands for characters by using

controllers. The inputs go through the code that is written beforehand by coders. The

programmers are then in charge of making sure that when the users input commands, the code

works seamlessly. Video games and computer programs often have bugs. It is extremely tough to

make a program work perfectly the first time with as many possibilities as there are. This is often

why updates are release every so often for technology such as a cell phone. Programming

completes tasks, coding completes programs. Programming also manages the debugging of

codes and software. Programs have to work to complete tasks and cannot do this without

working flawlessly. Traditionally, it takes significantly more time to become a programmer than

a coder. Programmers also need to have a firm understanding of coding. They are required to

troubleshoot and solve the problems in the code. Programmers are the conduit from human to

machines. Although, without coders, programmers would have a much harder job to create the

bridge. Coders though, could not build the bridge without the programmers, no matter how many
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lines of code they write. Programmers have a much more complicated task, but both coding and

programming go hand in hand with each other.

Programming and coding are extremely important to any industry that deals with any sort

of automatic technology or processing. This includes anything that uses programs as simple as

Microsoft Word or Excel. Everytime a button is pressed, a code is sent to the computer to display

a letter or complete a command. In the car industry, robots are used everyday to weld and

assemble heavy or extremely intricate parts of cars that humans cannot do as efficiently. Two of

the biggest advantages to using robots help build cars is the safety and the accuracy. To make

these robots work to their highest potential, they need to have accurate and flawless instructions

to tell them what to do. This is where the the programmers and coders come into play. The

engineers design the parts and the programmers make the parts move and complete tasks. The

careers of programmers and coders vary much more drastically than Microsoft and car building

robots. Programmers and coders are involved in virtually everything in this world in some way.

Programmers and coders are everywhere and their careers can be extremely enticing.

Dawn Rosenberg Mckay states that a computer programmer’s job consists of writing code for a

program that a software developer develops, and then runs and rewrites it until it’s error free.

(McKay, 2018) Secondly, also from Mckay, programmers are constantly monitoring and

improving current programs that are in use. It is crucial that the current programs continue to

work and all of the attention is not focused on creating new things. To do this, programmers need

an exceptional of practice to know what to look for. Experience is very important in this field of

work. When trying to find a job, employers look for experience, not your grades. This experience

can come from internships, classes in school, but a good place to increase experience is in the

school system. If schools had the ability to offer programming and coding classes, or even just
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labs, the students could get the exposure early and experience the computer language before they

set their mind on a different career. The students could see the possibilities of the coding and

maybe get them hooked at an early age to jumpstart their careers. The students would also look

more enticing to future employers. Mckay mentions that expert computer programmers need

some integral skills, being: problem solving, critical thinking, and reading comprehension. The

skills that are preached throughout education here in America. Exposing the students to

programming could help emphasize the skills in the students from another angle rather than

mathematical book problems or summer reading books. Programmers and coders need to be able

to solve errors in the code and think on their feet to use reasonable solutions to solve the

problems in an efficient manner. Reading comprehension can be enhanced from reading the code

to find errors. Reading the instructions on how to code as well as the instructions on what the

program should do can also help that skill. With the complexity, it would not be a class taught in

early childhood, but rather middle school or high school. The students would then be at an age

where they could take accountability for their own work and be able to solve problems on their

own, another strong quality of an expert programmer. Lastly, in a fast paced, highly stimulating

world that we live in, computer programming can teach patience. A quality that can be lacking in

a large amount of young kids. Some projects can take a large sum of time to complete.

Professional programmers can spend months on a project that can be very frustrating. Students

would most likely not be spending months on a code, but a project that takes a couple days to

complete could teach the students some very valuable patience. To become a programmer or

coder, a bachelor’s degree is needed to have a good chance at making a career of it. This means

four years of school at the minimum, but no one has ever made it doing the minimum. If the
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students could be exposed to programming and coding before college, that experience could give

them an edge over other students.

In 2016, the average salary for a computer programmer was $79,840 which is only bound

to go up with the more education completed and experience gained. As time goes on, similar to

anything, coding and programming gets more advanced and new techniques are created. This

means the programmers need to always be advancing their education and talents by taking more

classes and practicing. This can be accomplished in various ways. One way is learning new

programs. New computer programs and languages are being made all the time. The programmers

can stay sharp by staying up to date with the newest programs out. A second way is to gain

different certifications in the field. There are different levels of expertise in the programming

field. To be able to work on more complex and sophisticated jobs, qualifications have to be met.

Just as a doctor needs to be qualified enough to perform surgery and fix a human, programmers

need to be qualified enough to operate and be responsible for the operation of extremely

expensive robots and equipment. At a young age students have to ability to experience many

different types of programs. They have the time to play with a number of them and explore to

find which they like and dislike. The exposure to the different programs can keep the students

sharp in the future if they were to encounter a varying type of program.

As students are still young in school, they most likely could not handle writing a code

that can solve for some obscure variable from an equation or concept they have never seen

before. The students would need more of a beginner program to learn on. LEGO, the famous

brick building company that consumed a great amount of time of every kid in this generation has

made a simple robot software. The robot software is so simple that, “kids can make bots do

pretty much anything by simply stringing directives together on a computer.” (Lindz, 2013)
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Basically, this robot software is a beginner program that introduces students to the concept of

programing. It has an added bonus that the kids can assemble the robots together themselves.

They then add a central piece that reads the software, and then the robot will follow the program

that the students had created previously on a computer. The program can make the robot

complete any number of tasks including, but not limited to: moving forward, backward, turning,

sensing objects in front, and spinning around. The software is called LEGO Mindstorm. It is the

perfect example to expose the students to a program that allows them to see the potentials and

possibilities of computer programming and coding. The software allows for the experience while

keeping the concept understandable for the age of the students.

Computer coding is where it all starts. The ability to talk to computers, robots, cars,

people all over the world, is all due to the advancements and the amazing talent of coders. They

make it possible to work with robots for extreme accuracy and efficiency. They make it possible

to type a sentence and have it pop up immediately on any given phone anywhere in the world.

Coders can help us get closer to, if not reach the impossible. Although, no coder is perfect. The

programmers in this world are responsible for checking the coders work so it works without a

tick. The programmers’ job is to find any bugs or defects in the code and fix them so when the

public uses it, the program runs smoothly and effortlessly. Once this task is completed, the

programmers cannot just leave it. Their next job is to monitor it and make sure it continues to

work perfectly. Also, they have to update it to keep up with the ever so fast advancing world we

live in. As with most things in life, the more experience a coder or programmer has, the better

they will be. Most employers in this field will look for experience. With the large amount of

different computer languages there are, having the exposure to a various amount is crucial to a

career in this field. The importance of being able to handle and deal with the different kinds is
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almost greater than the importance of grades. A degree in this field is not always enough to be

qualified. To be qualified in certain circumstances, there are various certifications and licenses

that apply to the circumstances. This is one way to stay up to date and educated in the field.

Another is just by practicing and returning back to take classes that explain the new kinds of

programming. With the amount of experience needed, students could get a real advantage if

school systems offered it before higher education. If these classes were offered in middle school

or high school, the students could gain valuable skills in addition to gaining experience.

Programming and coding teaches patience, reading comprehension, and problem solving. Three

qualities that are extremely important to being successful. At the very least coding can teach

these qualities to the students at a young age. Lastly, computer programming and coding is an

important field to today’s world and the field is expanding. The jobs are needed and open to be

filled. Giving students the chance to see it an early age can help jumpstart their careers and teach

them crucial world skills.

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References
B, A. (2015, January 27). Alex's Blog. Retrieved from Devsaran.com:
https://www.devsaran.com/blog/10-best-programming-languages-2015-you-should-know

Lindz, F. (2013, May 1). Smithsonianmag. Retrieved from Smithsonian.com:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-lego-is-constructing-the-next-generation-of-
engineers-37671528/

Masters, M. (2018, January 1). What is Computer Programming. Retrieved from edX:
https://www.edx.org/learn/computer-programming

McKay, D. R. (2018, April 1). What does a Computer Programmer Do. Retrieved from The
Balance Careers: www.thebalancecareers.com/what-does-a-computer-programmer-do-525996

Top 7 Differences Between Coding vs Programming. (2018, February 1). Retrieved from
EDUCBA: https://www.educba.com/coding-vs-programming/