5 Reasons Why You Should Learn To Code Even If You Are Unsure If You Want To Pursue A Career As A Full-time Programmer

Are you dabbling with the idea of learning how to code because it seems like it might be fun or useful? Or do you think it might help you in your career? Or are you thinking that maybe it could be an interesting career for you in the long run, but you are unsure if that is a realistic goal or you are not so sure yet if you want to take it that far?
Here are five reasons why it might be a good idea to just go for it, even though you might not end up doing it as a life-long profession.

1. Coding helps you develop your problem solving skills
   As you spend time learning how to code, you will encounter problems in doing that. A lot of problems. Again, and again, and again. If you persevere, you will develop the skill of how to tackle those problems, which is something that will help you in any area of your life. As you progress in learning how to code you will become more confident in your own ability to conquer and solve problems.

2. Coding also helps you improve other cognitive skills
   Your brain is like a muscle, and if you want it to perform better, than it needs to be trained. If you spend a lot of time watching TV, playing video games, or mindlessly scrolling social media, your brain will probably atrophy to some degree. Maybe you have been on that path and you find yourself unable to concentrate on almost anything for a period of time longer than your average TikTok video (and even that might be too long if it's not stimulating enough)... There is still time to turn the tide, and a project like 'learning to code' can help you do just that. By taking this goal and sticking to it you won't be wasting time on harmful stuff and you are doing something that will make your brain stronger and better.

3. Learning to code can help you understand how computers work which is quite interesting in today's computer driven society
   It's quite obvious that we are living in a time where the computer is ubiquitous. Everywhere you turn you find people glued to their portable minicomputer that is today's smartphone. Every office is filled to the brim with computers. Your home is filled with a bunch of them. Given that this is a fact, why not learn more about how that thing works if you find that topic interesting? And learning is easiest and most effective if you actively do something with it, and that is why coding is suitable for that job.
   Now don't get me wrong. Programming doesn't necessarily give you a lot of insight in the underlying principles of computer science. But depending on how far you take it and how you approach it, it can do exactly that and it is more fun to learn about it by building things than it is to study books and abstract theories.

4. Learning how to code might help you build an app and/or become an entrepreneur
   Now this doesn't have to be your goal, but it might be a side-benefit of this endeavour. As you become a better programmer you might get ideas about some app that could be useful for yourself or for others. And with your gained skill you might actually be able to turn that idea into a reality.
   My recommendation, though, is not to take this as a goal or requirement for your 'learning to code'-project, unless you already have an idea. It is easy to get stuck in 'thinking of the next great app', being unable to think of anything, and never writing any line of code. It's better to just build useless things that you find fun or interesting to make, than not to build anything at all because you want to build something that is really innovative and useful but can't think of anything. But it's nice and perhaps motivating to know that at some point you might be able to build something useful or exciting that could turn into some income or a business.

5. It's not very difficult to get started
   Most people have a computer that can do enough to get started with this. Yes, if you are going to be serious with it, you might need a stronger, more expensive computer. But as a starter, you probably already have what it takes. And of course there is an incredible wealth of educational material available online, a lot of it for free, that can help you get started, so in that sense there is not a lot holding you back to just give it a go. You don't need to pay for expensive bootcamps or even online courses unless you really want to.

The goal of this post is not to convince anybody that "everybody should learn how to code". If you have no interest in coding, that is fine, you are not missing out on anything if you don't enjoy it. But if you have some interest in it, and some time and energy to spare, this post might help you decide and become motivated to just go for it, because you never know what doors it might open in the future.