Coding isn’t the only job that demands intense focus.
But you’d never hear someone say that brain surgery is
‘fun’, or that structural engineering is ‘easy’. When
it comes to programming, why do policymakers and
technologists pretend otherwise?
In an ever-more intricate and connected world, where
software plays a larger and larger role in everyday
life, it’s irresponsible to speak of coding as a
lightweight activity. Software is not simply lines of
code, nor is it blandly technical. In just a few years,
understanding programming will be an indispensable
part of active citizenship. The idea that coding
offers an unproblematic path to social progress
and personal enhancement works to the advantage
of the growing techno-plutocracy that’s insulating
itself behind its own technology.