ramm1n

Getting familiar with the basics in a world literally being eaten up by software could be helpful

In one of the recent issues of fodia11 Ll11k (Issue 2, July), 1 had made a case for why kids should be taught programming.

Today, I am go ing to argue why you, an adult b usiness owner or employee, should also learn programming. Like last ti.me, I wou ld like to mention that learning programm ing is not limited to learning the syn tax or the rules of a programming language. Or learni ng how to configure a system such as SAP, although that kind of knowledge is not bad to have either

My recommendation is to be capable of understanding general principles of h ow internet and mo b ile applications work, what factors can make them succeed or fail , and knowing how to work with IT, mobile and internet vendors and workers - ro understa11d what they are saying and their scope of work and limitations, and to be able to provide them great requirements

As bus in ess owners, you should understand online business As employees, you should know how to automate part of yo ur work that

INDIAN LINK is manual or repetitive, so you can be more prodL1ctive.

But before we venrure further, Jet me clarify why 1 am making this recommendation.

About rwo years ago, Marc Andreessen, a pioneer of commercial .internet wrote how 'software is eating the world'. He argued that .internet and mobile communication and their co nvergence w ith commerce, entertai nm ent and business modeJs, is disrupting and taking over entire industries. This is contrary to the ge neral belief in which today's popularity of Facebook and other dominant websi tes are seen as just a nother 'b ubble'.

As p roof of his assertion that alJ industry is going online, Andreessen cited Amazon and the way it transformed the books retail business and even the way we read books now (on Kindles, ra ther than on paper). He aJso cited streaming music services such as Spotify and App le iTunes a nd their effect on the music industry, Linked.in and its effect on recruitment etc. The po.inc is, whole industries are be ing eaten al.ive by software and the internee. Your industry may just be waiting in line. Get ready to meet th e n ew reality of an ITdriven wo rld before the business or job is ea ten by it (or IT - pun unintended). It does n ot matter whether your .industry is content, media or sofrv;;rare driven; many employees of banks, insurance a nd mining wo Ltld find their skiJJs in adequate to deal with in the new e nvironmen t.

If Mark Andreessen has convinced you enough to give software a shot co preserve your career o r do better in business, here are a few resources ro enhance your ski.11s.

To get a feel of programming in an ente rtaining way, check om amateur game development platform developed by MITScratch (scratdunit.edu). This is as good for adults to h ave a flavour of sofrware deve lopment, as for kids

When you are ready for serious stuff, then you can learn programming online interactively at Codecade m y (www.codecademy.com). General Assembly (generalassemb.ly / sydney), an educaror of start-ups and entrepreneurs, offers classes in web development, computer science fundamentals, data science among othe rs. Classes are be ld in U ltimo near Sydney CBD. Before enrolling i.nto one of d1eir comprehensive courses, you can attend a few of their workshop sessions that are offe red for as .low as $40 for a 2 hours sess ion. They also have several videos on.line (generalassemb.ly/ online) that are offered co paid members (about

US$25 per mond1-).

Do you thi n k your Excel skiJJs needed a little update? Need to brus h up Powerpoint skills? Head over ro udemy (www.ude m y com), en te r w hat you want to learn and you would have a c hoice of dozen s of online courses offered by other people like you and me, n or necessarily colleges, and who are experts and experi enced u sers. You may subscrib e to their courses an d complete on ude m y's platform. Interested in learning how to bui ld a n onli ne strategy for your business? Attend Intern et Business Strategy (cce.sydney edu. au/course/Il3S1) at the Cen tre for Continuing E ducation (CCE) in Universi ty of Sydney to learn about business m odels online, work on tl1e new business for a month and then come back to learn how to impleme n t it· (cce.sydney.edu au / course/IBst) O th er o n e - day workshops at CCE (cce.sydne)'.edu au) include mobile strategy, social media and project m anagement. All th ese are reasonably priced an d are quality courses

W l bether you have a preference fo r p lanning and strategy, or you are creativelr inc lined, love numbers, play w ith data, or create grea t art, there is a role and an area waiting for you in on.line, software and mobile. So, polish your programming skills and let's deve lop t hat game. And I am not saying this to kids!