I don’t think I will ever forget my first experience with using HTML my sophomore year in college. I was enrolled in a computer science course and I was TERRIFIED. It happened to be in the morning, and my instructor was so enthusiastic about teaching us coding I wasn’t sure how I should react. It definitely did not help with my emotional breakdown when I noticed others in the classroom with massive amounts of code on their computer screens. They were coding lords and I was the shy rookie. The only thing holding me together at that point was my will to survive. I have always been the dedicated student, the student who refuses to fail. So I was more than willing to accept the challenge and become a coding expert. I think understanding the language was the most difficult part. At first glance, it’s extremely intimating because it’s not even in english and you have no clue what it all means. What helped me was breaking it down and making sure I understood what each tag produced on the web page. The more you practice, the better you get; so I began to see myself quickly picking it up and using it like typing up a paper on Microsoft Word.
I think telling this story can quickly connect to the significance of digital and computer language. It is definitely much more distinct and complex than any other language we are used to using, specifically with coding. There is a certain structure that needs to be followed so there’s not much room for flexibility. But the unique aspect about it is that users can personalize it. For instance, when building a website you create the language that is going to tell your website what it should say, what color, what image, what template. You have the freedom to make something your own, and I think that gives the user a sense of value.
In terms of how important I think it is for digital writer to know code, I think due to the growing use of technology it’s almost inevitable and primal for them to have some kind of knowledge on it. For instance, business and corporations are requiring employees to know more and more about computer literacies and to be able to use the internet, view a website, and eventually how to make one easily. I don’t see it going any other way. People connect online and it gives business the ability to connect with a lot of people worldwide and with the simple touch of a computer screen. I feel like under those circumstances and terms, individuals would need to know how to code, but it can also become something advantageous for the every day person. Say there is a common mother at home who recreationally makes necklaces that her friends keep telling her that she should sell. Having knowledge about coding can come to her advantage if she wants to open up a business and make a website for it.
We definitely cannot keep avoiding the elephant in the room. Coding is quickly becoming an important tool for the everyday computer user. One way or another we have to embrace it.
