20 Coding Facts You Didn't Know - theCoderSchool Blog

20 Coding Facts You Didn’t Know

Coding is the language of the present and future.

There is no doubt about that. With technology taking over the world by a storm, coding has become almost a necessary skill.

Teachers, parents, friends, and business experts often talk about coding as a requirement. A language that must be learned if you want to thrive in a technology-oriented world.

However, coding is sometimes seen as a tedious process. It is associated with repetitiveness, incomprehensible lines of letters and numbers, and staring at the computer endlessly. What gets lost in such assumptions is that coding can be a cool, fun, and creative process.

There’s much more to coding than meets the eye. So, it is time to tackle the prejudice about coding.

In order to demystify the true nature of coding and why you should embrace it, we present to you some fascinating facts about this language of technology.

1. There are more than 700 different programming languages.

If kids want to explore the versatile world of programming, they should start with a block-based programming language and move their way up. Some good options for kids’ and teens’ first programming language are Scratch, Python, Java, and Lua.

2. The first computer game was created in 1961.

That game was Spacewar. MIT programmer Steve Russell and his team spent around 200 hours writing the first version of the game.

3. 67% of programming jobs aren’t in the technology industry.

If you think that the only direction you can take with coding in the field of technology, that’s not true. There are numerous pathways for coders. Some of the fields you can venture into are arts and design, engineering, data analysis, environmental science, medical research, and many more.

4. The first person in the world to carry the title of a coder was a woman named Ada Lovelace.

She was born in 1815, and some people believe that Ada published the very first algorithm that was to be carried out by a machine. “That brain of mine is something more than merely mortal; as time will show,” wrote Ada.

5. The first computer virus was created by a 15-year-old in 1982.

It was designed to affect Apple II computers. The author described it as “some dumb little practical joke.” It was a practical joke that made history.

6. The term computer “bug” was, in fact, inspired by a real insect.

Grace Hopper coined and her team coined the term inspired by a dead moth they found in Relay 70 of Harvard’s Mark II computer.

7. Smartphones run on more code than NASA’s computers in 1969.

This means that the code that sent the man to space was less complex than the code that runs your smartphone.

8. Many programming languages share the same structure.

Thus, if you learn one programming language, it will be easier to learn additional ones.

9. Coding is behind almost everything that is powered by electricity.

Code is all around us.

10. The first computer didn’t use any electricity.

It was an automated, mechanical loom called Jacquard loom.

11. Fortran (FORmula TRANslation) was the name of the first programming language.

John Backus and his team at IBM created it in the 1950s.

12. Coding leads to great cognitive benefits.

Learning how to code can improve your analytical thinking, problem-solving skill, creative thinking, computational thinking, and leadership-related skills.

13. Learning how to code is slowly becoming like learning how to write.

It is turning into an inevitable task for students. Just as you write an essay with the help of essay samples on this page, you’ll soon need to write codes with different programming languages no matter the type of study you undertake. The Ministry of Education has even started to include programming as a core curriculum in schools.

14. Computers use binary code to store data.

What this means is that the computer’s software is written using only 0s and 1s.

15. Computer codes had an important role in ending WWII.

An English computer scientist, Alan Turing, managed to decipher Nazis’ code machine ENIGMA thanks to his cryptologic and mathematical skills. The information he and his team at Bletchley Park provided saved many lives. His contribution to modern computing was rewarded by naming the annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) the Turing Award. This award is presented to “an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community.”

16. Alan Turing also invented the “Turing Test” – a well known example is CAPTCHA.

That distorted numbers or words on online forms that help with distinguishing humans from computers was also the computing contribution of the famous Turing.

17. Kids as young as 7 years of age can start learning how to code.

It’s never too early. There are lots of great online games that can introduce young kids to coding in a fun and engaging way.

18. The youngest coder is Muhammad Hamza Shahzad.

He was only 6 when he became a Microsoft Professional. In a Microsoft software related test Muhamed scored 757 while the requirement for earning the certificate was 700.

19. A teenager, Avi Schiffmann, created one of the world’s most popular COVID-19 tracking websites.

He programmed ncov2019.live, the lauded coronavirus tracker that is one of the most visited corona trackers in the world. And he isn’t stopping there. Avi shared for GeekWire, “I have some ideas for simple projects like an app to help my friends quit vaping, or a platform to manage clubs. But I am always jumping around a long list of ideas.”

20. Computer programming is one of the fastest-growing careers.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the computer science industry is projected to grow much faster than any other industry over the next several years.

Final Thoughts

Coding is more than just a career of the future. It is an interesting, exciting, and creative occupation. Let us know if there are any other cool coding facts that you know about! Or if you’re interested in the full history of coding and computer programming, try this.

Marques Coleman is a blog writer and specializes in marketing and copywriting. Moreover, he is an avid traveler and always tries to learn something new.

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