Teaching Children How to Code Early

Although I am a Gen Xer, I had an early interest in computers that caused me to start programming probably around nine years of age. At the time, there was no such thing as the Internet. In fact, many computers had no modems. It was impossible to get online. It was just me, the screen, and the keyboard.

I did purchase reference books and magazines related to programming. I would read about other kids creating fairly elaborate programs. If they can do it, then I should be able to do it, too. This was my reasoning, anyways. I was a novice and lacked the math for advanced functionality. However, I still felt confident that the road would lead to greater success if I just kept trying. I genuinely believed this. I just had to keep going.

I had no disk system or tape drive for my earliest computer. Interestingly enough, the magazines presented the code, which I then had to manually enter on the computer. This was time consuming. I am sure readers can appreciate my epic enthusiasm whenever one of these programs worked - this is to say, I didn't make enough critical mistakes to prevent the program from working.

Since those days, I have found that learning most computer programs is mostly just a matter of time - to familiarize myself with the syntax. I think at my most inquisitive age, I was juggling about seven different programming languages, frequently checking my notes for syntax. As it doesn't take much effort to learn enough of a language to make use of it, I often didn't bother to keep the information for long.

I once stopped programming for about eight years, mostly to make time for my studies. But afterwards, I still remember restarting rapidly. I can only assume that some part of my mind, trained during my pre-teenage years, remained ready to code. I suspect that it is easier to develop lifelong coding ability earlier rather than later in a person's life. This is something worth thinking about for parents who notice that their children seem to show early interest in programming.

These days, perhaps the situation doesn't really allow children explore programming per se. Kids might go on and spend a lot of time on social media. While it is true this is computer-related and makes use of the available technology, it doesn't seem particularly like programming at all, at least from the standpoint of developing coding ability. Although it is true that anyone can pick up the ability later in life, I am not confident that this is necessarily the best way to develop deep and long-term familiarity.

Long before I was formally exposed to a programming language in high school, I learned one on my own during my primary school years. Actually, I was trying to handle three languages during primary school but really succeeded only with one: BASIC, machine language, and assembler. Try as I might to move bytes to and from specific stacks and monitor runtime registers, I found myself settling with BASIC. Again, keep in mind I was nine years old. I was thrilled when I could finally afford a cassette drive to save my programs.

Like many people, I did go through a game phase. But this was after I developed a programming foundation. Interestingly, I often worked on my computer in an effort to create games. The personal growth wasn't so much in playing games but working so hard to create the code and getting it to run properly.

A word of caution about self-learning. It is a wonderful thing. But it doesn't "prove" ability. For example, during a job interview, there may not be any substantiating experiences on the résumé pointing to one's ability to program. I realize this is a separate issue from gaining the ability. Establishing one's coding skills is probably important to enter the labour market and access related jobs. If a person is actually considered for a programming-intensive job - e.g. as a programmer - it might be necessary to have a "portfolio" of past accomplishments.

In the short-term, early exposure to coding can be extremely helpful. The trend is for an increasingly computerized work environment. It has been said of course that AI may replace programmers. Conversely, programmers can replace AIs - in a literal sense. They can create entirely different types of AIs. Big discussion, right. However, consider coding from a slightly different perspective: not so much to create full-featured programs but rather to make the most effective use of them. This sort of "everyday coding" goes hand-in-hand with domain expertise.