What can you do with coding? You can become a valuable resource to employers or even become a freelance developer. As the coding industry is exploding, learning coding skills has become an increasingly good idea for job security and career success. And the salary levels aren’t bad either. But do you need a degree to be a programmer?
The most obvious path to starting a career in programming is through a computer science (C.S.) degree where one would learn a web development language (like JavaScript, Java, Python, and Ruby to name a few). But, it might surprise you that it’s actually more common for people to look into a coding bootcamp vs. a CS degree.
We know that more programming language-related jobs are being created every day, so why aren’t we seeing an increase in students who pursue a C.S. degree? This could be because many people have learned that you don’t need a degree in coding to start your programming or software developer career.
C.S. Degree Outlook
While a C.S. degree provides a well-rounded education for any aspiring web developer, there are a few disadvantages that you should be aware of. First, getting a degree in coding is a big-time commitment for beginners learning how to code. In the modern education system, it takes two to four years to finish a degree in coding, depending on how much time you dedicate to your studies.
Another disadvantage to getting a degree in coding is the amount of money you will put into your education.
However, there are also some advantages to consider when thinking about going to college. The biggest advantage is that you get a degree in coding. But, is a degree really necessary?
What a Degree Does for You
A degree is a physical proof that you put the work, sweat, and tears into learning how to code. So, do you need a degree to be a programmer? Sometimes you do. Some companies remain traditional, meaning that they won’t consider you for a coding position if you don’t have a C.S. degree. However, this is becoming the exception.
Alternative certification routes are becoming more respected. In fact, according to the data we have on the employer’s perspective 89% of employers believe that coding bootcamp graduates are just as prepared, sometimes even more prepared, for a career in coding than degree holders.
When others say you can’t get a programming job without a degree, that’s simply untrue.
Who Modern Employers Are Hiring
Modern employers aren’t looking for people who have a degree in coding. They are more focused on portfolio examples and coding tests. They want to know that you can do the job, not if you have earned a degree in coding.
Aside from proof that you actually know how to code, employers are also looking for how you will fit in with the rest of their team.
“What I was looking for [when hiring for my team] was people that were willing to work on a team,” Carlos Kidman, QA manager at Jane, said. “[I wanted people] that were willing to make a positive impact wherever they went, and I wanted to feel that from that person.”
Employers today have different expectations and hiring processes than they used to.
Alternative Paths to Learning Code
As mentioned above, hiring managers aren’t just looking for a degree in coding. They are looking at portfolios showcasing your web dev build skills and coding tests.
Coding bootcamps can be helpful as you prepare a strong portfolio and can get you the skills you need to be able to ace coding tests that employers will give you.
Contrary to C.S. degrees, coding bootcamps are inexpensive and can get you tutorial or in-person guidance and any additional resources you need to learn how to code quickly.
Because coding bootcamps are preparing you for job interviews, you will be learning how to code while also preparing a portfolio that you can present to employers at the end of your time at bootcamp. These portfolios will contain the projects you’ve worked on (apps, websites, tools, etc.) you’ve built as you’ve practiced your web development skillset. And while coding bootcamps don’t offer degrees, they do demonstrate to employers that you have an educational foundation for your coding experience.
Remember, 89% of employers believe that coding bootcamp graduates are just as prepared, or even more prepared, for a job in coding than degree holders.
8 Best Programming Languages you Should Learn
A frequent development has been observed over the past few years in programming languages; the new ones are replacing the old ones. It’s very important for you to be updated with the current trends of programming languages in the market in order to promote the latest technological innovations. According to the trends observed in freelancing websites, the job market in the top multi-national companies, and the startups, here are the best programming languages that will take over the market soon.
Python
Python has to be on the top for its big data analysis and machine learning purposes. It is also widely used for software development and some mobile app development. There are many of the latest technologies that use python as their core language. It is a great start for beginners and it has been observed that it has been gaining the trust of young developers. Whether we consider penetration testing or the frameworks like django for designing web apps or the analysis of data like numpy, pandas or matplotlib this language has shown its supreme power in every aspect. The big data is used for decision-making by the management and digital marketing agencies.
PHP
It is one of the languages that are widely used in a number of Web Applications. Statistics show that it is being used 80% of the top 10 million websites in some way or the other, including WordPress, Wikipedia, and Facebook. It has great flexibility and performance in solving problems. You can find many of the frameworks that are developed in PHP like Laravel framework, which is used for developing large web applications. It is considered to be a good choice for web development for server-side scripting.
Javascript
There is a great growth in the usage of this language also. You might have not used it to its fullest and there were lot of flaws in this language but it has been improved quite a lot in the later years. Now you can handle almost everything with it. You can work with Node.js in the back-end and for front-end you can use Angular.js and React.js and can completely rely on it. If we consider mobile applications, ionic framework and react native framework are completely able to handle all the android and IOS apps and that is the main reason behind why the companies like Facebook are shifting towards JavaScript for their web, android, IOS, or any other implementation.
C#
It is one of the most advanced and convenient programming languages. It is not just a main development language for the Microsoft .NET framework but also getting popular in game development and Xambrin. Gaming industry is on a boom nowadays, platforms like Unity and Blender are widely on demand and if we talk about mobile development in for android, iOS, or Windows Phone, Xambrin is something that uses C# class and libraries for the development of all the three mobile platforms. So for developing apps you will not have to learn the specific language for each platform.
R
Another programming language which is widely used for machine learning. It is said to be python competitor. It has great features of data visualization for the data analysis. Most of the machine learning algorithms can be easily implemented in R. These are the reasons why it has stolen the limelight of python a bit.
Swift
This language was developed by Apple in order to replace Objective-c. Apple sells a very high amount of devices every year regardless of their price and quality. Therefore there is a huge ecosystem for all those who want to develop applications and software for apple-based devices. Swift is the only way for them to do so. It has improved code readability and many more exciting features in comparison to Objective-c. It is now very popular and has dominated Objective-c.
SQL
How can we forget the heart of the internet! SQL is still on the top because of it great usage in internet and database management system. Every other company needs to design a database and for that SQL knowledge is must for them.
Kotlin
As we know that Kotlin has been declared as the official language for the android application development with Android Studio, therefore from 20120 there will be a high demand for its programmers. Along with java, it can be used for android app development. We will see a gradual depletion of java and dominance of Kotlin in Android Studio in the coming years. That’s why especially the upcoming android developers should learn Kotlin in order to get recognition in the IT sector. Moreover, the languages C, C++, and Java cannot be ignored. These are the core languages of Computer Science and Engineering and they will still prevail in the industry.