Sophia Cheong’s career started at a Korean barbecue restaurant in California while completing her bachelor’s degree in business administration. After graduating she was promoted to assistant general manager and, later, the director of operations. Then a coworker started teaching her how to code. Cheong commented:

“I fell in love. I know it’s cliche, but I felt like it was my true passion. … I was getting up every morning really excited to learn.”

Millions of Americans quit their jobs during the “Great Resignation”. Cheong also had this opportunity during the pandemic to switch career paths, something she had been wanting to do for some time. Cheong immediately used the money she had saved to enrol in a 13-week software-engineering boot camp, where she completed over 1,000 hours of full-stack coding. One week after graduation, she started to look for a job.

Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m Cheong applied to every entry-level software-engineering job or internship she could find, spanning 18 countries. While submitting applications, she managed to create an online portfolio.

“I was pretty naive. I thought I’d have a job after a month because Hack Reactor has such a good reputation. But then one month turned to two months and then three and four, and I started thinking, ‘Oh my God, why am I not getting a job? What’s wrong with me?'”

A screenshot of Sophia Cheong’s 359 applications around the world. Photo Credits: Insider

Constantly hearing about the national labour shortage and the ever-growing demand for tech talent didn’t help her morale. According to US labour statistics, the shortage of engineers in the US will exceed 1.2 million by 2026.

Six months later, Cheong had interviews with 40 employers and was rejected 357 times. She said that most interviewers asked why she had switched careers and how her experience in the service industry would help her succeed in tech. The main reason why she has been denied was that other candidates were more senior than her.

The same week Cheong was supposed to head back to working at the restaurant, she received two job offers. One, a junior software-engineer position at Homee, would pay 120% more than her previous salary, she said. The company’s Chief Technology Officer Mitch Pirtle told Cheong during the interviewing process:

“We’re all about taking chances with the newcomers. We know how hard it is to get your foot in that door.”

After getting a job, Cheong posted about her strenuous job hunt on LinkedIn. Hundreds of job applicants struggling to find work flooded the comment section, asking for advice and sharing their similar stories of constant rejections.

A March 2020 study published in the UK-based journal Scientific Reports, looked at whether memory, problem-solving and an aptitude for numbers or languages influenced how people learned to code. Researchers recruited 42 participants to try out a popular online coding course. Before the classes, participants went through a battery of tests designed to look at their various existing skills. As they progressed in the course, researchers were able to track how quickly they learned and how well they did in the tests.

After completion of the course, researchers found that how well students learned to code was mostly explained by problem-solving and working memory. But they also found that language learning ability and general cognitive skills were the best indicators of how quickly people picked up programming languages, like Python.

In fact, language aptitude explained almost 20 per cent of the difference in how quickly people learned to code. Surprisingly, the maths-based pre-test only explained two per cent of the variability in how quickly students learned and had no bearing on how well they performed. All this goes to show that, contrary to popular belief, learning to code depended a lot more on people’s language skills than it did on their maths skills.

So, perceptions of coding being related to maths are perhaps incorrect. Moreover, according to the US-based science news website Massive Science, many studies have shown that girls typically have higher language skills than boys, on average, so the idea that female coders are few and far between could be a thing of the past.

In a post on the Newsroom website, Apple is showcasing a number of schools, educators, and students in Australia who have used Swift to learn how to code. Swift is Apple’s open-source programming language that is now incorporated by developers in tons of apps on the App Store.

One of the stories Apple highlighted was TAFE Queensland, the state’s largest training provider. According to the article, the company will soon offer iOS app development with Swift training to students starting in October. The course was co-created between TAFE Queensland, Apple engineers, and educators.

Apple says that there are now 160,00 app economy jobs in Australia and that new jobs continue to increase at a rate of ten percent every year.

“Since the launch of the App Store in 2008, the iOS app ecosystem has been an engine of growth and among the fastest-growing sectors of the world’s economy. There are now close to 160,000 app economy jobs across Australia, a figure that’s been increasing by 10 percent every year since 2017. Today, there are nearly 2 million apps on the App Store, which has facilitated over $600 billion (US) in commerce in 2020 alone, while the sale of digital goods and services through the App Store has earned developers over $200 billion (US) to date.”

In relation to the obscurity route, we’ve already looked at the value of languages like K and Q for finance jobs, but there’s also merit to learning functional programming languages like Clojure, F#, Scala, Elixir, and…OCaml.

OCaml is the language used by Jane Street, the quantitative market-making firm that last year paid its lucky graduate trainees a $200k annual base salary, plus a $100k sign-on bonus, plus a $100k-$150k guaranteed performance bonus.

Jane Street uses OCaml as its primary development language. In a YouTube video posted six years ago that had over 62,000 hits and counting, Yaron Minsky, Jane Street’s head of technology and the man who convinced the firm to use OCaml in the first place, said the language is “in a kind of sweet spot in the design space.”

“It is concise, like traditional dynamic languages are and efficient on the scale that traditional compiled languages are. It has a type system that catches lots of errors for you.. and is relatively easy to work with.”

At one point, Minksy said Jane Street thought of using C# but OCaml was much more concise and easy to read, making it less prone to errors. Separately, Minksy observed that Python is, “crushingly horribly insanely slow.” Minksy said Jane Street uses the language for everything from little scripts to automate small tasks, to big trading systems trading billions of dollars a day. It’s a “single tool that works for a large variety of applications.”

The only problem with OCaml is that not many people know how to code in it, and therefore not many people use it. At Github just 0.121% of pull requests are in OCaml, putting it slightly ahead of R (0.093%) and Julia (0.071%), but way behind Javascript (18.8%) and Python (16.6%). Moreover, OCaml is becoming less rather than more popular – in 2016, 0.226% of Github’s pull requests were in the language; OCaml has more than halved in popularity in the space of five years.

Maybe this doesn’t matter. Minksy explains that Jane Street‘s rationale for using OCaml is partly based on the “Python Paradox” posited in the early days of Python by YCombinator founder, Paul Graham. This says that:

“If a company chooses to write its software in a comparatively esoteric language, they’ll be able to hire better programmers because they’ll attract only those who cared enough to learn it.”

On this basis, your value as a developer is partly defined by your commitment to learning obscure languages. And although Jane Street doesn’t actually mandate knowledge of OCaml for its interviews, if you can code in its pet language, it will show a lot more interest in the role than if you can’t. However, OCaml isn’t easy to learn. Blind commented on a poster last year:

“Anyone apt enough to learn OCaml can likely pick up other languages. OCaml will teach you some deep and transferable skills,” said another poster on Reddit, adding that the OCaml route is, “profound and mind-changing.”

It’s not just Jane Street that uses OCaml, and it’s not just Jane Street’s developers who can code in the language. Technologists and quants who can code in OCaml are to be found everywhere from Citi to Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. Bloomberg uses OCaml for an advanced financial derivatives risk management application. Outside of finance, it’s used by Facebook and by Dropbox, among others.

The potential danger of becoming highly proficient in OCaml is that you’ll get a job at Jane Street, become immersed in the language, and – in the style of Slang at Goldman Sachs – slowly become less employable anywhere else.

“I think everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think.”

Here’s a step-by-step guide to take you from code newbie to know-it-all.

1. Understand what coding is.

Coding is, quite simply, a way of telling a machine what to do.

“Coding” is the most common term used by educational sites, but it’s a bit more complex than that. First, there’s no one way to code — there are numerous languages used to code for different types of projects. Second, knowing how to code with a particular language doesn’t make you a programmer or developer.

Though there is some debate about the overlap of coding, programming, developing, and other related pursuits, most people agree that to get beyond coding, you need to be able to understand logic and algorithms, connect different systems and languages, and communicate and collaborate with other people.

2. Understand how coding can help you.

Enhance digital literacy; Cultivate skills; Expand your horizons; Solve problems.

3. Pick your path.

Before you start, remember to figure out what you want to do with your future coding skills. Figuring that out is important for two reasons: first, different programming languages are used for different things, so you want to make sure you learn the language that best fits your goals. Second, having a specific, meaningful goal motivates you to keep going.

So which language should you learn? The Learn Programming subreddit offers this guide in determining which language to learn:

4. Pick your course.

Check out our ultimate resource list for learning to code for a curated list of sites that are highly rated by users, recommended by experienced programmers, and associated with well-known institutions.

All of the sites on the list offer courses for people with zero programming experience. Each listing details the types of courses offered, cost, time commitment, experience level, and a sampling of topics covered. Though many courses are free, courses geared toward people seeking a career in programming are usually paid. Among all the options, you’re sure to find one that’s right for you.

5. Have a support system.

Code can be intimidating, but you’re not alone — the programming community values collaboration. Here’s how you can get help:

Get a buddy. Look for a buddy on Perunity or the Programming Buddies subreddit. You can also find local buddies by searching Meetup for interest groups focused on what you’re learning. Girl Develop It has chapters that help women network and team up to learn and practice programming.

Get a mentor. Mentors can help you when you get stuck and make sure you’re on the right track. Find one on CodeMentor or the Code Mentors subreddit.

Ask a forum. The most popular programming forum is Stack Overflow, followed by Reddit — the general programming subreddit is Learn Programming.

Ask good questions. If people feel like you’re wasting their time, you’ll get either no response or a snarky one. Consider these tips:

• Before you post, search the forum to see if your question has already been answered.
• Write a descriptive title and post.
• Demonstrate that you’ve made an effort to tackle your problem- you’re not expecting people to do the hard work for you.
• This article on asking smart questions has more great advice and is also a useful introduction to the distinct character of the programming community.

6. Go beyond the basics

It’s true you can quickly learn the basics of code. But just as learning English (or any other language) doesn’t make you a great novelist, learning code doesn’t make you a great programmer- that takes plenty of practice!

Scratch Jr– Scratch Jr is a free app designed to teach younger children between the ages of  5-7 how to code. Kids can program their own interactive games and stories before watching them come to life using programming blocks.

We 💕 a week full of FUN #Coding!

Follow #ScratchWeek exploring @scratch & @ScratchJr #online and #offline #STEM coding!#ScienceWorldca Educators have fav projects they've posted, including a Spring Greeting card:https://t.co/2r8motOVey#ADST #STEAM #bced #STEMeducation pic.twitter.com/NQN73P245F

— Science World Teacher Resources (@ScienceWorldTR) May 20, 2021

Hour of Code from Code.org– The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science that was designed to demystify “code” and show that anyone could learn the basics of computer programming. It has become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities and expanding to all sorts of community efforts. Parents can make Hour of Code a weekly activity with their children, and even host an event with friends.

Grasshopper App– This free app helps children learn to code JavaScript through progressively challenging activities and puzzles. Grasshopper has no age guidelines and is suitable for anyone looking to build their skills with coding fundamentals, programming language, and more!

Stencyl– This app is available on Android and Apple devices. Stencyl allows kids of all ages to create and publish their own games by learning programming skills. It teaches game logic through a drag and drops interface and world-building.

CodeSpark Academy– CodeSpark Academy is an app that teaches kids how to code through characters called “The Foos”. Kids use logical thinking and problem solving to help “The Foos” complete tasks in subjects like pattern recognition, coding puzzles, and applied concepts.

Hopscotch– This free app is great for kids ages 7-13, but can be used by anyone wanting to learn how to code. Hopscotch has self-paced video tutorials that teach coding through popular games like Pokemon Go and Geometry Dash.

GoldieBlox– If you’re looking for a hands-on approach to storytelling and STEM, GoldieBlox uses videos, animation, curriculum, and more to teach girls about science, technology, engineering, and math. You can help your child build a light-up unicorn pillow or a do-it-yourself (DIY) mermaid cell phone case and more!

Go Tynker– Using blocks, Go Tynker is a free iPhone/iPad app that assists kids from grades 1st-8th with learning coding in an interactive way. By completing lessons, kids earn badges to reward their progress.

As a starting point here are some tips for teaching kids how to code: Challenge Kids Ideas of Computers

• Start off the conversation by asking, “What is a computer?”. Then have a couple of pictures of household items that include different types of computers or technology like a self-flushing toilet, sprinklers, or even pets.

• Ask your kids to identify which of the photos are computers. When they look baffled, explain that all of these examples are computers. For example, the toilet has sensors that detect motion and communicate for the device to flush and sprinklers are set on a timer to go off on certain days at certain times.

• Even pets can be considered a computer if they have microchips in their skin that store home addresses and contact information. By using examples they understand, parents can make computers and technology seem more interesting and something they can engage with daily.

These exercises challenge the perception that computers are just rectangular boxes with screens. With today’s technology and the emerging Internet of Things (IoT), anything can be a computer! Being on the computer can be a fun, educational, and immersive experience for a child as they learn how to focus, analyze, and train their brain with new skill. Change up their routine using these amazing resources that can keep them entertained for hours.

A lot of people are wondering what are the required professional traits that an individual should possess to achieve such success in the Tech industry. While we were trying to find the answer to this question, another topic from Quora emerged and grabbed our attention:

How good is Elon Musk at programming?

Photo credit: Quora Sylvain Saurel

Starting from the very beginning, after finishing a six-month course in three days on how to program in BASIC, he taught himself how to code and created a video game “Blastar” at the age of 10. When he was 12  he ended up selling the game to a PC magazine, which printed the code. This step provided some early hints about his character indeed, but how was he able to teach himself coding even before the World Wide Web existed? Whenever anyone asks him how he learned something, his answer is in three words: “I read books”. However, Elon’s simple answer doesn’t sound convincing to Quora visitors who claim:

“You don’t get that kind of success with SpaceX or Tesla by being like the average coders”.

He has two bachelor’s degrees in Physics and Economics and was accepted to a Ph.D. program in energy physics/ materials science at Stanford University in California. Two days after that he dropped out of the university and decided to join the Internet boom and launch an internet startup.

“I think college is basically for fun and to prove that you can do your chores, but they’re not for learning,” Musk said.

His best friend and college pal Navaid Farooq shared: “When Elon gets into something, he develops just this different level of interest in it than other people. This is what differentiates him from the rest of humanity. He could lose himself for hours on end”.

In 1994, Musk held two internships in Silicon Valley: at an energy storage start-up,  and at the start-up Rocket Science Games in Palo Alto. In 1995 Musk attempted to get a job at Netscape, but after all, he received a response to his job inquiries. He continued to develop his skills in coding and programming and decided to start up a software company with his brother that provides licensed online city guide software to newspapers. The company name was  Zip2 and has been sold for $307 million which made a room for Elon’s next venture. After Zip2 he created an online bank, which was later merged with another company to create the well-known PayPal. He continues to use his knowledge with Tesla and SpaceX.

From all his experience we can firmly say that he can do everything: learn quickly, code, sell his product and generate profit. “Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.”

Programming and coding are continuously changing with the years, and no longer is Musk using BASIC to program at his companies. Currently, Tesla is using Python as its main programming language, however recent tweets made people wonder whether they are going to switch to C++. Last year, John Carmack, a computer programmer and engineer, asked Elon Musk on Twitter to explain what are the aspects of C++ that wins over C. Musk simply answered that the reason he likes C is because “it avoids class warfare”. The following question was in relation to Musk’s favorite programming languages, where he answers it is C, however “the syntax could be improved esthetically”.

Nowadays, he doesn’t program anymore, but if he had to, Elon Musk could easily go back to work and become a great programmer again. He has the recipe for this with his strong ability to learn new things and remember quickly. Sounds easy, right?

“Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is a disaster”.

All it takes is courage and the ability to learn and constantly develop yourself because the only constant in the technology industry is change.