Mission Statement
Published 1/10/2024
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Introduction
The art of software development can be summarized as taking a set of instructions that a computer can execute, and transforming those instructions into software that humans can use. Those instructions are typically written in some form of programming language such as C, Python, or HTML. Each programming language has a specific syntax that must be observed for the application to work properly.
The resulting output is what software developers refer to as code, a set of instructions written in a human readable format that can be translated by a compiler into machine-readable instructions for the computer to carry out.
In reality, the art of writing code is a phenomenon that has only recently emerged in the last 70 years or so since the invention of the first digital computers, but its effects on humanity have been truly dramatic. In those early years, the task of coding was a privilege granted only to the most cutting-edge universities and government entities. Nowadays, virtually anyone can learn to code. All you need is some sort of computing device, and a connection to the Internet.
Purpose & Scope
The purpose of this site is to help myself and others learn how to read and write code properly. I have decided to begin learning to code at a critical moment in computing history. At the moment, we are living at a point in human history where Artificial Intelligence ('AI') is in its infancy. The future is unclear, with some experts in the field issuing a warning that AI will soon reach a 'point of no return' in which we will no longer be able to control it. Others feel that AI already cannot be stopped.
Yet, AI like any other piece of software is merely code that has been compiled for the computer to run. It is a tool that should serve and help humanity reach its greatest potential. It should not be feared, but rather, embraced by software developers. With each new generation of coding technologies, software development continues to become faster, easier, and more efficient. AI is just a logical step in that direction.
While it may seem counter-intuitive to start a coding website at a moment in which AI is set to disrupt the coding landscape, in reality I feel that now more than ever, there is a need to properly learn how to read and write code. At some point in the future, reading and writing code will be more like reading and writing a book.
If you think about it, having the world-wide-web at our fingertips should have allowed video streaming technologies to disrupt the book reading industry. The human population in general would now rather watch a 20-second video than read a book, and yet more books are being written now than ever before.
Likewise, the existence of AI won't eliminate the need to learn how to read and write code. Rather, it will make it easier to develop software. Yet, there will always be demand for properly coded applications. Those developers who embrace AI will be able to take advantage of this opportunity. Those who aren't able or willing to embrace the coming 'Age of AI' will be okay. They'll find something else to do, because the truth is anyone resourceful enough to learn how to code can do pretty much anything.
With that being said, this site and its accompanying blog will not only help me track my progress as I learn how to read and write computer code, but it will also help me track the progress that AI is making in the software development industry. Occasionally, I will also be publishing technology articles on topics that I find interesting, as well as some opinion pieces on the video game industry.
My ultimate goal with this site is to provide a repository of information that I find useful in my endeavor to become a software developer, and if someone out there finds this information helpful as well, then that is good enough for me.