Is Code The Juggernaut Of Destiny?

The writers of Game of Thrones intrigue me when they somewhat cloak our modern disdain for the privilege of royal descent. As I continue to catch up on old episodes through Amazon I can not help but thank the gods that I am free to raise my station through hard work and tenacity.

My recent tenure with Linux Academy, and my experience with Red Hat has given me a sincere respect for the role open source code is playing in our global community. It would appear that in this day and time, regardless of race, creed, age, sex, or any other criterion, anyone from any walk of life truly has an opportunity to change not only their own destiny, but that of the world as well.

At Linux Academy and Red Hat I have had the chance to meet and work with people from many eastern countries. My travels to India, Romania, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Dubai, Ireland, England and Scotland have all shared one thing. I was amazed to see how technology, specifically coding, allowed an individual to assume a prominent career position and likewise role within any given society.

Growing up, prior to the invention of the PC, the Internet, and smart phone, I would have thought writing literature was a way to achieve fame, power or wealth. Famous authors through the ages have been revered and while many had lived poor, to only be revered posthumously, writing seemed to be a way to leave a legacy of thought. I admired famous writers. I wanted to write well very early in life.

Then, when my father brought a Burroughs programmable calculator home in the late 1970's, I learned to code. I programmed a primitive sequential program that calculated a loan amortization. When I pressed the 'run' key the calculator did step by step calculating interest, principle and remaining balance with each payment. The quirky printer spewed out its 3 inch scroll with the utmost speed (so I thought at the time). At age sixteen, I stayed up until midnight and made sure there was no paper left by breakfast time. I was hooked.

From there I watched every new technology device. The Timex Sinclair. The Commodore Vic 20 and Commodore 64. The Tandy TRS-80. I learned assembler and basic. By the time I was in college I was an operator on a Burroughs B-1800 and taught myself COBOL. I then learned CPM systems and PC-DOS. Eventually Xenix, Unix and finally Linux.

I was slow to see the potential of the Internet because my understanding of proprietary systems and networks blinded me to its potential. The idea that all computers anywhere could be interconnected one day over a free network just seemed surreal. Eventually I was forced to remain relevant and learned HTML, javascript, C, PHP, Python and the like.

Now as I primarily focus on automated code delivery, I am beginning to realize that while operating systems, networks, infrastructures, container technologies, cloud environments, and the like all seem to evolve at an accelerating pace, there is one common skill that serves me anywhere. My ability to code.

In my work I meet people everyday that have transgressed from other careers into tech and many will tell me upfront whether they code or not. There are so many positions now that involve the skill of running a system through someone else's software that actual scripting or coding may not be required. However, I do find that when people move from being a non-coder to a coder they feel that it is a breakthrough and they have a sense of pride.

As income disparity in the United States has disenfranchised so many young professionals I find myself encouraging everyone I know to take up coding. When I meet retired people that still need to work I suggest that they teach themselves to code. I hear all of the self-doubt and reasons why they don't think they can - but I know from personal experience that they can.

To me, the ability to code must be what a swordsman skill meant in feudal times. It means what I knew as the ability to write before I knew of microprocessors and code. I celebrate with all of my colleagues on this vast Linkedin.com network what we share. We are the brotherhood of coders.

Let's all be thankful for what we know, what we do, and in that sense of gratitude, invite others to join us. Its better than royal blood!