Why are we lacking computer programmers?

[TechFnatic]

I'm wrapping up a passion project for one of my finals and its basically wrapped around the question "How has computer programming molded today's world and why should everyone know it?" and I need some perspective on something:

 

Why do you guys think programming is so uncommon, especially in younger kids, why isn't it picked up as a hobby unlike other subjects? I really need to touch this subject and I honestly think it's due to the lack of education in our early lives (High school) 

 

Anyways any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[mrswagbhinav]

I thought is was really common, oh well. That just makes getting a job easier for me

[Godlygamer23]

Programming is a very time consuming task. I've seen code for small programs and thought it was a lot, so perhaps the overwhelming factor is a huge contributor to lack of interest in programming.

[Toxicable]

snip

You're probably right abotut the high school thing, im currently studdying computer science a uni, but my high school didnt offer anyhing near a programming class nor any of the other high schools from where i l ived

[TechFnatic]

I thought is was really common, oh well. That just makes getting a job easier for me

There are HUGE job shortages when it comes to programming, although conditions are improving, I'm more interested into why kid's don't get into it earlier.

[Vek1313]

I'm wrapping up a passion project for one of my finals and its basically wrapped around the question "How has computer programming molded today's world and why should everyone know it?" and I need some perspective on something:

 

Why do you guys think programming is so uncommon, especially in younger kids, why isn't it picked up as a hobby unlike other subjects? I really need to touch this subject and I honestly think it's due to the lack of education in our early lives (High school) 

 

Anyways any help would be appreciated, thanks!

I mean depends on availability and quality of it like your example of high school. Idk I am taking the first class of it next year at my high school. I am looking forward to it as our STEM program was a bust for me (not sure if I like STEM or not, teacher was just ignorant so I don't really know STEM much)

[Virtual01]

Because being a computer whiz at 15 won't exactly win you any ladies. Programming also requires a degree of problem solving, patience, and dedication that most people don't have. Its something you have to sink a ton of time into before you can make a "real" program and a lot of people aren't willing to make such a back loaded time investment.

[TechFnatic]

Programming is a very time consuming task. I've seen code for small programs and thought it was a lot, so perhaps the overwhelming factor is a huge contributor to lack of interest in programming.

Good point, I totally overlooked that!

[-CLASSIFIED-]

well i woulda picked it up if it was easier to learn , and if there were classes at my highschool. wait there was but it was hard to get into ~sigh~

[TechFnatic]

I mean depends on availability and quality of it like your example of high school. Idk I am taking the first class of it next year at my high school. I am looking forward to it as our STEM program was a bust for me (not sure if I like STEM or not, teacher was just ignorant so I don't really know STEM much)

My highschool offers an information technology course that literally focus' on HTML and CSS all year long, haha

 

Do you mean a lack in general or lately? 

 

As of late, programming and computer science have exploded in terms of popularity.

I mean in general, we're still short for programmers in the tens of thousands

 

Because being a computer whiz at 15 won't exactly win you any ladies. Programming also requires a degree of problem solving, patience, and dedication that most people don't have. Its something you have to sink a ton of time into before you can make a "real" program and a lot of people aren't willing to make such a back loaded time investment.

Yeah patience and interest is definitely a huge factor, good point

[SageC]

It's not exactly easy to just jump into and getting to the point where you can actual make stuff like games or any sort of fun hobbiest project takes either a lot of time or a tremendous amount of effort.

[mrswagbhinav]

There are HUGE job shortages when it comes to programming, although conditions are improving, I'm more interested into why kid's don't get into it earlier.

I'm barely a teenager and I've been casually coding for a year, but I think I'm the only one in my school.

[TechFnatic]

I barely a teenager and I've been casually coding for a year, but I think I'm the only one in my school.

Yeah this is what I'm talking about, it's so rare in school, but the reason it bumps up in University is because people know theres money to be made

[Burusutazu]

My local area has a high demand for computer science graduates, so I chose that path vs pure game pathway in hopes of landing a solid job in 4 years. Growing up in a poor family, jods with computer science bachelors will land me 4-8x pay compared to what I grew up on. I would say that it is because of a complete lack of interest for college other then this latest generation that has caused this gap in workers.

[Casperian]

My highschool offers an information technology course that literally focus' on HTML and CSS all year long, haha

This, along with Game Maker.

When I tell a lot of people I'm doing computer science, they jump to web design or game maker. Also a lot of the reason behind people not wanting to be a programmers seems, at least to me, to be the perception and stereotype a programmer carries, and the stereotypical of a programmer isn't exactly the best.

[Casperian]

Yeah this is what I'm talking about, it's so rare in school, but the reason it bumps up in University is because people know theres money to be made

It drops back off later on in the courses. According to a friend, there are only about 15 people in parallel programming this year.

[Dobbsjr]

 

Yeah, I've heard about this problem. Only like 14% percent of all programming jobs are occupied. I guess programming is just hard. It's time consuming and you have to rewire your brain to think differently, creatively, and logically.

[Brenz]

why should everyone know it?

 

Firstly I don't believe everyone should. Many people keep shouting about how everyone should know how to program a computer but realistically there are far more less technical things they should know about using computers before trying to write a program for one. If applying for an office job better understanding of Office will be much more useful to you in the same way a software developer doesn't need to know the life cycle of a plant.

 

 

why isn't it picked up as a hobby unlike other subjects?

 

A lot of this is down to how we live and our culture. We love instant gratification be it fast food, on demand TV or learning a hobby. With many hobbies is doesn't take long to achieve something like playing a few notes on an instrument or hitting the ball well in a game.

 

In programming we have "Hello World" which depending on the language could take a while to set everything up and understand how to run your code and still doesn't provide that good feeling as well as other hobbies so people don't start to enjoy it as quickly. Plus its a lot less sociable than many other hobbies, even those where you may just have a teacher or someone helping you.

[EpicAdom]

Programming is hard and time consuming. It's also very mathematical. Most people don't like math, and many people don't like being challenged or spending a lot of time on one thing.

There are a lot of lazy people out there, and they won't enjoy programming.

[YellowDragon]

Programming is hard and time consuming. It's also very mathematical. Most people don't like math, and many people don't like being challenged or spending a lot of time on one thing.

There are a lot of lazy people out there, and they won't enjoy programming.

 

I would say programming is more of a logical reasoning exercise then mathematical. To be honest I didn't do too hot in mathematics but excelled at computational logic. I would say the ability to break down complex tasks into code segments is more important... and yes this takes alot of time and effort, even for seemingly small programs

[EpicAdom]

I would say programming is more of a logical reasoning exercise then mathematical. To be honest I didn't do too hot in mathematics but excelled at computational logic. I would say the ability to break down complex tasks into code segments is more important... and yes this takes alot of time and effort, even for seemingly small programs

Math and Logic are related. I guess it would be more logical than mathematical though.

[TechFnatic]

 

 

Firstly I don't believe everyone should. Many people keep shouting about how everyone should know how to program a computer but realistically there are far more less technical things they should know about using computers before trying to write a program for one. If applying for an office job better understanding of Office will be much more useful to you in the same way a software developer doesn't need to know the life cycle of a plant.

 

 

 

 

A lot of this is down to how we live and our culture. We love instant gratification be it fast food, on demand TV or learning a hobby. With many hobbies is doesn't take long to achieve something like playing a few notes on an instrument or hitting the ball well in a game.

 

In programming we have "Hello World" which depending on the language could take a while to set everything up and understand how to run your code and still doesn't provide that good feeling as well as other hobbies so people don't start to enjoy it as quickly. Plus its a lot less sociable than many other hobbies, even those where you may just have a teacher or someone helping you.

 

I think programming is going to be essential to our lives in the next century, it's simply not enough to survive working in a factory or as a truck driver anymore, machines are taking over and the more machines there is the more programmers are needed.

[Dobbsjr]

I think programming is going to be essential to our lives in the next century, it's simply not enough to survive working in a factory or as a truck driver anymore, machines are taking over and the more machines there is the more programmers are needed.

We need as many programmers and hackers so we can fend off the coming A.I wars.

[vorticalbox]

it's just meh, i've spent hours trying to get a program to work only to find i missed a ' or a ; or a {} or some other tint thing so that it doesn't handle inputs just the way i want it but it also feels really good when you push past it and fix a problem you have had for ages.

[Brenz]

I think programming is going to be essential to our lives in the next century, it's simply not enough to survive working in a factory or as a truck driver anymore, machines are taking over and the more machines there is the more programmers are needed.

 

It's not that simple though. A small dev team can be responsible for millions of dollars of revenue and just because software is being used more doesn't mean it requires more developers to work on it.

 

Google has a big team working on self driving cars when they only have a limited number of cars but when that is available to buy their team will probably remain a similar size and certainly scale with the cars. Yes jobs are changing but people who used to make cars in a factory now maintain and monitor the robots, they don't program them.