I remember the day I clicked on "Inspect" just for curiosity.

🤯 That made my brain blow out because of the large number of characters that appear. Since then, my curiosity for creating sites has been increasing on and on.

Fortunately, Google already existed by then, so I could research what the hell all that bunch of information meant (not so YouTube where now you can found thousands of tutorials).

I know that HTML and CSS aren't programming languages, but the way that you need to think to make your ideas come true (at least in a browser) is the easiest way to introduce yourself in this fantastic world of programming.

Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer… because it teaches you how to think".
– Steve Jobs.

Programming allows you to do things in seconds that would take forever by hand. It is a way to make your computer tool do things that it couldn't do before. It provides a wonderful exercise in abstract thinking, and it can be rewarding.

By the time I discovered how to create a website, I found out that the languages that I mentioned before were the visual part (HTML for the structure and CSS for the presentation), and the functionality was on charge of JavaScript (Yep, this is a programming language) and my curiosity was multiply by ten because this language is more complex and the possibilities for adding more interactivity to your sites or web applications are limitless.

Let's take a lot of steps before…

In the beginning, programming was harder because programmers didn't have visual interfaces as we do.

Now we can do it easily with all the tools that we have like code editors, IDEs (integrated development environment), or even running directly on websites like codepen.io.

A programming language is an artificially constructed language used to instruct computers. Like we have languages to communicate with each other, computer languages allow words and phrases to be combined in new ways, making it possible to express ever new concepts.

Even the field of programmings has decade within us, is still young and still developing rapidly, and it is varied enough to have room for wildly different approaches.

Why do we need a programming language?

This is how programming looks at the birth of computing:

00110001 00000000 00000000
00110001 00000001 00000001
00110011 00000001 00000010
01010001 00001011 00000010
00100010 00000010 00001000
01000011 00000001 00000000
01000001 00000001 00000001
00010000 00000010 00000000
01100010 00000000 00000000

That is a program to add the numbers from 1 to 10 together and print out the result.

In humans words: 1 + 2 + … + 10 = 55

Now we can do the same thing with a better presentation with JavaScript.

let total = 0, count = 1;
while (count <= 10) {
	total += count;
	count += 1;
}
console.log(total);

The code says:

Line 1: Create 2 variables with a value (total = 0; count = 1).

Line 2: Execute the code (wrapped in braces) while the condition holds (count is less than or equal to 10).

Line 3: Assing to total, the value of total plus the value of count (total = 0 + 1).

Line 4: Assing to count, the value of count plus 1.

Now the value of each variable has changed, but the variable count is still less than 10, so the code runs again, and again while the condition is true.

Line 6: show out the result in the console.

This version is more compressible and we need fewer characters to tell the computer to do the same.

That is what a programming language allows with the communication with humans and computers: ordering the computer to perform on a higher level.

Javascript is introduced in 1995 as a way to add programs to web pages. It has been adopted by the major graphical web browser to implement in modern web applications possible.

JavaScript is almost all devices we use day by day. If you're reading this post on a smartphone, watching your favorite shows on your TV, or even when you take out a beer from your fridge maybe JavaScript was on any of the actions that made easier your lifestyle.

Of course, JavaScript is not the only programming language but one of the most important in the labor market. Another popular (and so demanded) is Python which design philosophy emphasizes code readability.

It changes the way you think

When you start learning to program, you will notice the way think changes completely because every time you try to solve or automate a task you need to break that problem into workable pieces and then get on it.

You develop the habit of working your way out in a very structured format, and then, without your notice, you gradually program your brain to take every problem, break it down in steps and understand it better.

Besides the way you resolve your daily problems, you develop your creative and artistic skills not only in the logical part of your program but your front end finding new solutions each time.

It gives you free time

When you need to do something that requires a repetition task (like input repeatedly information on Excel/Google Sheets) you can be all day working on that. It can make you go crazy because of the manual labor it requires.

Guess what? You can write a little program to help yourself every time you need to do it in a few clicks and you will have time to do something else (like spending it with your family watching a TV show on Netflix or whatever).

In the beginning, most of the time you need to take to write this program could take 80% of your time just for thinking about how to resolve, but then, the rest of the time you just have to write down your code.

It guarantees you a job

We have the luck of living in the era of technology, and technological growth seems to nowhere near stopping.

As I mentioned before, most of the devices we use daily need someone to program on them and this is an opportunity to be required for the companies that produce them.

These companies are considering employing people all around the world and considering that you just need the ability to program and a computer connected to the Internet, you can apply to this works no matter where you are (or you want to live in next months).

It teaches you persistence

Learning computer programming is hard, I will not lie to you. No matter what language you decide to start, but hard things are just for people who do not give up quickly.

Like learning a new language in real life, you meet a lot of situations that your brain is not used to work. But do not worry, like all things you already know, with patience and a lot of hours of practice you will transform your brain function and have better results.

Open your own business

If you are not interested to work for a company like an employee, you can create your own business solving other's problems for a fee.

Knowing how to code allows you to look into this kind of opportunity. Even if you love the most baking cakes, now you can create an online shop to distribute online and generate extra income.

Well, this situation can be from a lot of people who do not know how to program websites to offer their products and services.

The opportunities are endless.

Conclution

No matter what do you do, or what industry you are working in, every action or task you repeat constantly on a device (computer or smartphone) can be turned on in an automatic task.

Learning programming does not mean you have to create the next Google, Facebook, or the next Netflix. No.

If we rewind a little and see what was what these big companies did to get where they are now, we will discover that they just suffered from lack of something and they just tried to solve those situations.

Programming is a skill that will empower you with numerous benefits. Some of these benefits are a guaranteed job, developing problem-solving skills o simply just the opportunity to work from home.