Imagine someone saying today: “I don’t know how to read and write – I’m not a poet“. It is the same as saying: “I don’t know how to code – I’m not a programmer“. Today if you don’t know how to code, you’re partially illiterate.
P.S. if you’re a journalist, you might find your next big story here.
Every part of our lives is effected by code and yet, so few people actually know anything about it. So let’s change that.
Top 3 Languages
This is a slight oversimplification, but everything you see is built (and if it’s not – it can be built) with these 3 languages:
HTML and CSS are not real languages. They are kind of “descriptive” languages that only define content, structure, and styling of everything you see.
JavaScript is a language that actually does things. If you press a button on a page and something pops up, that’s JavaScript. Or if you decide to send a message to someone across the world, that’s JavaScript.
JavaScript started as an “ordinary” language. But die to its popularity it was developed to a point where now you can build everything (and easily) with it.
And it’s the only language that has this ability. Other languages usually specialize in some tasks. JavaScript is not necessarily the best for all those tasks. However, it is the only language that is “good enough” for all those tasks.
Coding Improves Productivity For Journalists
Coding is one of the best ways to increase your productivity as a journalist. You could very quickly develop simple tools (programs) that simply do not exist elsewhere. Because no one will build a software for one user.
But you could build it for yourself which will give you a huge advantage over other journalists.
For example, let’s say you want to track certain resources (news portals, blogs, social media accounts). With coding you can do it more efficiently than other people. And at the same time, use almost no time on scrolling through the internet.
How?
Simple. Just build a small program that checks websites you specify. Maybe once every 20 minutes or so. And then it sends you an email whenever some content is published that contains keywords/topics you might be interested in.
If anything is published, you’ll be among the first to know. You get a message directly into your inbox with the article link.
If nothing was published, you will also know.
BUT
The big difference is (in both of those cases) – you didn’t spend any time scrolling through all these websites.
Yes, maybe you spent couple of days writing this program. However, you literally saved years of your life from clicking and scrolling.
And while other journalists need to keep an eye on everything, wasting their precious time, you can spend that time writing or something else that is high on the priority list.
You will do more than everyone else and at the same time feel less tired.
Coding is a literal superpower.