My kids both recently finished their summer band camps. My son plays the trombone and my daughter plays the saxophone and trumpet. As one of the instructors at band camp said, even if you don’t take up a career in music, learning and playing music exercises important parts of your brain that are useful for learning other things. In fact, some have wondered if learning music helps with math skills.
I think the same thing can be said about coding. In fact, there is research that found students with computer programming skills scored higher on cognitive ability tests than students without any programming skills. Coding teaches you skills that are valuable even if you don’t plan on being a professional software developer. Being able to code means utilizing incredible attention to detail and thinking about problems abstractly, useful skills for anyone – student or professional.
Remember, Summertime isn’t just an opportunity for the kids to learn new things. You’ve still got a month of Summer left, plenty of time to expand your own skill set. While the kids are at band camp or swim camp send yourself to programming camp from the comfort of your air-conditioned home.
Why not end your Summer with Xojo?
It can be pretty empowering to create your own apps and tools that help you be more productive. In fact, many people who use Xojo do exactly that. These people are referred to as “citizen developers” and they are a growing part of the workforce.
I know many of you are probably thinking: “I don’t have time to learn to code.” Well, here’s the thing. Learning Java is definitely lots of work, and not much fun, at least in my opinion. But learning Xojo? Now that is fun and you really can do it before this Summer is gone!
If you don’t have coding experience or are still a beginner, the best way to learn to code is to start with the free Introduction to Programming with Xojo book. This book teaches you how to code as you work through creating many small, fun example apps.
This book is also available in the iTunes Book Store, if that fits how you read better.
If you spend an hour a night on the book, you’ll finish it before this month is over. And the best part about learning to code? Once you learn how to code in one language, you can more easily learn other languages because the concepts behind most programming languages are incredibly similar. So whether you are a student or a professional, improve your skill set and learn to code before this Summer is gone!