Computer Literacy

           In modern society, coding knowledge is quickly becoming a more and more invaluable skill to have. As society continuously moves to adapt increasing amounts of computer-based technology, the influence of the programmer becomes wider. Knowledge of coding is starting to be recognized as a new form of computer literacy, one where the “haves” have a strong upper hand on the “have nots”. The more technology we integrate into our daily lives, the stronger hold the computer-literate programmer has over our lives. We rely on them to deliver to us an experience that will live up to our expectations, and even branch off into realms that we did not even imagine wanting, just a few years back, but now feel that we could not live without.

            The importance of this is in the changing of views on those who choose to devote time to studying the art of bending computers to their will. Not too long ago, this was a niche profession, with few students and professionals devoted to the discipline. Now, everyone knows a bit about what programmers do, and they certainly have used the products that programmers create. This gives the community in general a more understanding outlook on the jobs of programmers, and more willingness to delve deeper into what they truly do. This interest, coupled with the demand to expand all sorts of technology fields, has led to a steady increase in people learning computer science.

            The availability of information on computer science is one factor that plays a large role in this new interest. Computer scientists love to share their passion for programming with other people, and have a uniquely effective platform with which to do this: the internet. Thus, we see many site crop up dedicated to teaching the interested student how to program. Often times, this knowledge is given away freely, springing from the creators’ desire to educate others. These are no demo type sites either, attempting to lure the user into paying for the site, but rather earnest attempts to disseminate programming knowledge to any interested party. No other field has such an array of sites dedicated to its teaching.

            The availability of this information as well as its relevance to modern technology is leading to a point where we could reasonably expect a large percentage of the population to be at least minimally coding-literate. As technology becomes more prevalent, it is only reasonable to assume that more users will be interested in how the products were created, rather than simply how to utilize them. Fully immersing oneself into the creation process will yield benefits that are attractive enough to incentivize the plunge. The ability to create, to design a product that one would be able to put to immediate use in one’s own life, is a powerful tool and one that will become increasingly more sought after.

            This elevation of computer literacy seems only natural to expect. People will only rely on technology so long before it becomes desirable to have an understanding of that technology. Without that understanding, there is no confidence that this technology could not be ripped away at any time, leading to a regression that users would not be ready for. With increased knowledge of the workings of technology, comes increased confidence in one’s ability to function and contribute in the modern age. I do not expect the average person to be able to converse on the subject at an in-depth technical level, but I expect an increase in openness to learning about how our modern day tools are programmed, and a greater understanding of the basic concepts that make our tech society tick.