single line does, and don’t feel intimated. You will soon be reading and writing your own code.
FIGURE 1-1: Computer code from the game Pong.
One rough way to measure a program’s complexity is to count its statements or lines of code. Basic applications like the Pong game have 5,000 lines of code, while more complex applications like Facebook currently have over 10 million lines of code. Whether few or many lines of code, the computer follows each instruction exactly and effortlessly, never tiring like the waiter might when asked the hundredth time for the location of the restroom.
Writing code with some Angry Birds
If you’ve never written code before, now is your chance to try! Go to http://csedweek.org/learn, where you will see a beginner student experience, scroll down the page, and click the tile labeled “Write Your First Computer Program,” the link with the Angry Birds icon, as shown in Figure 1-2. This tutorial is meant for those with no previous computer programming experience, and it introduces the basic building blocks used by all computer programs. You can also click the tile labeled “Star Wars: Building a Galaxy with Code.” The most important takeaway from these tutorials is to understand that computer programs use code to literally and exactly tell the computer to execute a set of instructions.
FIGURE 1-2: Write your first computer program with a gamelike tutorial using Angry Birds.
Coding can be used to perform tasks and solve problems that you experience every day. The “everyday” situations in which programs or apps can provide assistance continue to grow at an exponential pace, but this was not always the case. The rise of web applications, Internet connectivity, and mobile phones inserted software programs into daily life, and lowered the barrier for you to become a creator, solving personal and professional problems with code.
Eating the world with software
In 2011, Marc Andreessen, creator of Netscape Navigator and now venture capitalist, noted that “software is eating the world.” He predicted that new software companies would disrupt existing tech companies at a rapid pace. Traditionally, code-powered software used on desktops and laptops had to first be installed, and then you had to supply data to the program. However, three trends have dramatically increased the use of code in everyday life:
❯❯ Web-based software: This software operates in the browser without requiring installation. For example, to check your email, you previously had to install an email client either by downloading the software or from a CD-ROM. Sometimes issues arose when the software wasn’t available for your operating system, or conflicted with your operating system version. Hotmail, a web-based email client, rose to popularity, in part, because it allowed users visiting www.hotmail.com to instantly check their email without worrying about installation issues or software incompatibility. Web applications increased consumer appetite to try more applications, and developers in turn were incentivized to write more applications.
❯❯ Internet broadband connectivity: Broadband connectivity has increased, providing a fast Internet connection to more people in the last few years than in the previous decade. Today more than 2 billion people can access web-based software, up from approximately 50 million only a decade ago.
❯❯ Mobile phones: Today’s smartphones bring programs with you wherever you go, and help supply data to programs. Many software programs became more useful when accessed on-the-go than when limited to a desktop computer. For instance, use of maps applications greatly increased thanks to mobile phones, which makes sense, because users need directions the most when lost, not just when planning a trip at home on the computer. In addition, through GPS technology, mobile phones are equipped with sensors that measure and supply data to programs like orientation, acceleration, and current location. Now instead of having to input all the data to programs yourself, mobile devices can help. For instance, a fitness application like RunKeeper doesn’t require you to input start and end times in order to keep track of your runs. You can press Start at the beginning of your run, and the phone will automatically track your distance, speed, and time.
The combination of these trends have created software companies that have upended incumbents in almost every industry, especially those typically immune to technology. Here are some notable examples:
❯❯ Airbnb: Airbnb is a peer-to-peer lodging company that owns no rooms, yet books more nights than the Hilton and Intercontinental, the largest hotel chains in the world. (See Figure 1-3.)
❯❯ Uber: Uber is a car transportation company that owns no vehicles, books more trips, and has more drivers in the largest 200 cities than any other car or taxi service.
❯❯ Groupon: Groupon, the daily deals company, generated almost $1 billion after just two years in business, growing faster than any other company in history, let alone any other traditional direct marketing company.
FIGURE 1-3: Airbnb booked 5 million nights after 3.5 years, and its next 5 million nights 6 months later.
Coding on the job
Coding can be useful in the workplace as well. Outside the technology sector, coding in the workplace is common for some professions like financial traders, economists, and scientists. However, for most professionals outside the technology sector, coding is just beginning to penetrate the workplace, and gradually starting to increase in relevance. Here are areas where coding is playing a larger role on the job:
❯❯ Advertising: Spend is shifting from print and TV to digital campaigns, and search engine advertising and optimization rely on keywords to bring visitors to websites. Advertisers who understand code see successful keywords used by competitors, and use that data to create more effective campaigns.
❯❯ Marketing: When promoting products, personalizing communication is one strategy that often increases results. Marketers who code can query customer databases and create personalized communications that include customer names and products tailored to specific interests.
❯❯ Sales: The sales process always starts with leads. Salespeople who code retrieve their own leads from web pages and directories and then sort and quantify those leads.
