In Praise of Programmers
If you did anything online today, thank a programmer. September the 12th is Programmers’ Day, and here at RIB CCS, we agree that it’s high time these unsung heroes and heroines are celebrated.
Programmers have an enormous impact on almost every area of our lives. They write the software that translates our instructions to our smart device, into language it can understand.
If you used a banking app rather than stand in a queue today or earned a free smoothie for that gym workout, a programmer made that possible. Think of all the ways that computers improve our lives, whether it’s finding information, crunching numbers, providing entertainment or connecting us to friends and colleagues around the world.
All these activities – which we take for granted – require coding. Lots and lots of coding. Remember those scrolling green numbers in The Matrix? That’s just the start of it. Without the coding that programmers create, modern life would be a lot slower, more repetitive, and, well, dull.
Why businesses value programmers
Modern business has also come to value the difference that programmers make. They may not, at first glance, be the highest-profile employees within an organisation, but their significant work lets brands deliver on their promises to consumers.
Great programming means better user experiences – which make people happier. When they’re happy with a brand, they stay loyal and spend more.
Contrary to the stereotype of the introverted programmer, today’s software writers are genuine team players. They get to collaborate on projects with designers, engineers and UX developers. Their insights influence every consumer touchpoint, as bricks and mortar stores increasingly integrate with digital offerings.
Programmers can save businesses time and money by writing code that automates regular tasks, freeing up human bandwidth to work on more creative and/or interesting projects. The result – contented customers and fulfilled employees – two things that companies highly value – and all thanks to programmers.
Get with the program
If this has made you want to explore programming as a career choice, where should you start?
The good news is that there’s an ever-increasing demand for employees with these skills, and more and more institutions are offering the necessary qualifications in computer science.
To improve your employment prospects, you also need to gain experience.
- Internships are an invaluable way to do this.
- Once you start coding as a job, sign up to every training course you can. Perhaps more than any other industry, programming is changing all the time, so you need to keep your professional skills up to date.
If you’re creative and logical, and you enjoy solving interesting problems, you could just have what it takes to be a programmer.
