In this blog post, we will look at why programming education should be a necessity, not an option, and how future generations can change the world through it.
On February 26, 2013, a documentary was released, fully sponsored by Silicon Valley conglomerates and featuring a full cast of Silicon Valley stars. The title is “What most schools don’t teach.”
“Great ideas can only come to light if you can code them. You don’t have to be an engineer. Whether you become a doctor, a lawyer, an architect, a farmer, or even a rock singer, you now need to understand coding.”
This is what film producer Hardy Batouby said. Silicon Valley stars, professional basketball players, and singers volunteered to make this documentary to promote the importance of programming. This message is not just an advertisement, but is actually having a powerful impact on educators and policymakers around the world. Since the documentary was released, many countries have re-recognized the importance of coding education and are accelerating the revision of their curricula.
The importance of programming is being highlighted around the world. Looking at programming education, the United States is promoting a weekly one-hour coding campaign from kindergarten, and in the United Kingdom, programming is as important as math and science in elementary, middle, and high school. In Israel, a country that excels in nurturing talent, students receive a high school education equivalent to that of a Korean university. In South Korea, programming education has been offered to new middle school students since 2015. This trend is seen as more than just part of education, but as an essential skill for surviving in the future society. In today’s society, where digital transformation is accelerating, coding skills are becoming more than just a specialized skill, but a tool for problem solving and creative thinking.
Why is everyone emphasizing the importance of programming? To understand this, you need to understand computers and programs. A computer can be compared to a very fast calculator. The speed of a computer is beyond imagination. A PC can perform 100 million basic arithmetic operations per second, and a supercomputer can perform 1 quadrillion basic arithmetic operations per second. However, these computers also have a fatal flaw: they can only perform simple tasks. They cannot perform any operations other than basic arithmetic and inequality tests. Computers cannot do practically anything on their own. They cannot even tell whether a number is even or odd, let alone send a rocket to the moon. How can we launch a rocket and predict the weather with such a “stupid” computer? The key to solving this problem is called programming. In other words, programming is the process of instructing a computer to perform a desired task, and the file that makes the computer perform this task is called a program.
In modern society, computers play a role that goes beyond being a simple calculator. The information that computers process in our daily lives is incredibly complex and vast. For example, everything from communicating with the world in real time through a smartphone app to letting an autonomous vehicle drive safely to its destination is done by programming. Most of the technology we use every day is a collection of algorithms created to solve these complex problems. Therefore, understanding programming is the first step to understanding the technology behind the technology we use and creating new innovations.
The most important thing when programming is the procedure for solving a problem, which is called an algorithm. An example of an algorithm is the task of sorting numbers in order of magnitude. There are many examples of algorithms around us, from putting 50 books on the bookshelf in numerical order to listing more than 600,000 high school seniors in numerical order. Most problems encountered in everyday life can be easily sorted because the number and size of the numbers are small. However, a different perspective is required when solving this problem on a computer. Let’s say there are 50 books randomly placed on a bookshelf. The number of possible arrangements of the books is greater than the number of all the stars in the universe. We need to design an algorithm that works well for all these cases.
For this reason, there are several conditions for the algorithms used in programming. First, if there is a logical contradiction, it is not a perfect algorithm. Second, if there is an operation that the computer cannot perform, it will not be executed. The computer cannot execute “find the book with the largest number among 50 books,” and this command must be divided into several steps and executed as follows.
“Set the first book as the ‘book with the largest number’“ → ‘Compare the number of the second book with the ’book with the largest number‘ and reset the larger number as the ’book with the largest number’” → “Repeat the previous process with the third book” → ……. → “Repeat the process with the 50th book”
After performing all of these steps, the number of the book set as the “book with the largest number” becomes the largest among the 50 books. Since the above algorithm only uses comparisons and substitutions, it can be executed by a computer. In addition, mathematical induction can be used to prove that the algorithm is logically sound. But what happens if the last book is not compared? If the book with the largest number is placed last, the result will not be the last book, and there will be a contradiction in the logic of the algorithm. Therefore, a perfect algorithm must be clear and consistent in the logic of each process.
Computers are helping us in many ways. However, not many people take advantage of the fact that computers are very fast. It is very rare for people to know the boundaries of what computers can and cannot do, so great ideas that could be implemented in the real world often disappear. Ideas are not powerful in themselves. Without the technical ability to make this a reality, even the best ideas can never see the light of day and disappear. Therefore, learning to program is not just about acquiring a skill, but about getting the tools we need to materialize and realize our imagination.
By learning to program, great ideas will not go to the trash can but will be able to see the light, and through this, we will be able to make a better world. This will soon become the driving force for further development of the society in which we live. This is why programming education is important for the generation that will lead the future. Helping them to discover problems on their own and equip them with the ability to solve them should be the ultimate goal of education.
