Coding Enters The Mainstream
Programming no longer requires a specialist – instead coding has become the hot skill.
Thirty five years ago, the BBC launched an affordable computer aimed at encouraging a generation of youngsters to learn programming skills and develop IT acumen. Ambitiously rolled out across the nation’s schools at a time when few people of any age were computer-literate, the BBC Micro offered an early example of Britain leading the world in hardware engineering and software development.
New Skills – New Tools
Fast-forward to 2016. Evidence of the Micro’s legacy is everywhere. Step forward micro:bit. This is another BBC project teaching children how to program. It uses something resembling a playing card with I/O rings along one side. Despite being just twenty square centimetres in size, the open-source micro:bit includes Bluetooth and a three-axis accelerometer. Programs are imported via a USB port, with compatible languages including C++. Scalable and portable, the battery-powered micro:bit is a leading example of coding entering the mainstream and becoming a skill appreciated by millions of people.
Despite the original Micro’s undoubted success, in tandem with other 1980s home computing icons like the BASIC-powered Sinclair Spectrum, coding remained something of a niche profession There used to be unfashionable connotations attached to being a programmer, with inferences of social awkwardness and associations with cold coffee. However, that image is being transformed.
Another Slice, Please
Another domestic device seeking to change outdated perceptions about programming is the Raspberry Pi. Now into its third incarnation, and accompanied by a growing arsenal of accessories, the Pi’s exoskeletal design and code-running abilities are reminiscent of the rival micro:bit. The Pi can be used in numerous ways including console emulation, robotics and even hacking.
To demonstrate that coding can encourage flights of fancy, the Pi has been turned into a drone, and controlled via a keyboard made out of beer cans. Opportunities to pique the interest of less technically-minded students and observers have been enthusiastically seized upon. The Pi can power Minecraft and even serve as a tablet with the addition of a capacitive touchscreen.It’s appeal is almost universal.
One Step Closer
If the Pi and micro:bit still seem too technical, other companies are reducing coding to the simplicity of a Meccano kit. The founders of the Barber Osgerby design studio recently launched a consultancy called Map, which has pioneered three build-it-yourself kits for first-time coders. Supplied in their component parts, these kits can be used to construct a camera, a speaker and a display screen. The latter can be synched with live information streams to display updates or deployed as a rudimentary games machine, with the ability to respond to motion. The camera kit can also recognize movement as well as taking five-megabyte photos and videos, while the speaker kit can be used to compose music and is supplied with a microphone and an LED visualizer.
The purpose of these diminutive packages is to encourage the widest possible number of people to begin dabbling with programming and software development. It seems programming has finally achieved critical mass, becoming something people of any age or background can embrace. As we stand on the cusp of augmented reality, mass automation and the Internet of Things, a basic understanding of coding is something everyone could potentially benefit from in future. If you haven’t explored coding then perhaps it’s time you did.