Computer Programming – A Necessary Skillset For The Future

Software development is the fastest growing industry in the world and with it comes the dawn of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

In the U.S, the software development sector saw an 18 percent sales growth in 2016 according to a study done by Sageworks, a financial information company. The growth trend is caused by the fact that we live in a digital world. Advanced software gives industries the ability to integrate across different techs, causing a software-cross-pollination and alliance groups between governments and multinational companies like we have seen with the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Finance, manufacturing and healthcare are currently the three largest sectors in regards to job openings outside the tech industry. A picture that’s not likely to change anytime soon.

The companies alone don’t dictate demand. We as consumers are driving up demand for software developers, caused by an increasing dependency on digital gadgets like smartphones, tablets, PCs and hopefully soon cryptocurrency as well.

The implications of these facts are that computer programmers are in high demand and will continue to be so in the future. This will lead to ferocious competition between tech companies to attract talent, which could lead to absurdly large salaries if there aren’t enough skilled programmers to meet the demand.

Taking these things into consideration, you should think about how you could attain a basic understanding of how programming works.

What programming skills are in highest demand?

The increased need for programmers across multiple industries has resulted in demand for a wide array of programming skills. The most sought after skills according to Burning Glass, an analytics firm is:

• SQL – Databases
• Java -General purpose programming
• Javascript -Web development
• Linux – Computer system operations
• XML – General purpose programming
• C++ -General purpose programming, especially in engineering
• C# -General purpose programming
• Python -General purpose programming
• .NET -General purpose programming

It’s a well-known fact that the mainstream media and the general population still aren’t aware of the possible future implications of blockchain technology. Nevertheless, companies that work with blockchain technology, The Internet of Things and crypto are going to need many more developers in the future as well.

Which skills will be most sought after in 5 or 10 years?

It’s hard to say, but I'm guessing there will be many more programming languages than today. Some of our current languages will probably be obsolete while others will die hard. If Ethereum is going to be the next big thing, which many believe it will, then there will be a potential demand for programmers capable of working with programs such as Solidity.

Why I’m learning to program

I have just recently become interested in programming but my research has already led me to the point where I want to learn how to program. My interest in programming stems from my passion of all things related to investing and trading stocks and currencies. From there I learned about Bitcoin and altcoins, and as I researched, I found that blockchain technology and other advanced techs were the driving force behind all cryptocurrencies. The potential key-role cryptocurrencies could play in the future is what sparked my interest for programming.

I basically have no knowledge about programming, but I love to learn new skills and I’m a fast learner too. Luckily, my brother @stefanh is studying to become a web developer, which means he will be helping me along the way to become proficient programmer. I’m not trying to learn programming on an academic level. I’m simply trying to combine the things I learn from programming with my knowledge and education in law and finance. That way I will have a basic understanding of how these new techs work, plus I will have an understanding of how the regulatory laws will affect the general development work and ICOs.

My diverse skillset will give me a potential edge both as an investor, as a legal advisor and as an educator. In addition, I will be able to work from anywhere in the world, whether it be as a self-employed or in a job. Now that’s what I call job security.

How will I do it?

I’m aware that learning to program takes hard work and consistency. That’s why I made a three-month plan for myself. I have decided to start with 3 weeks programming a minimum of one hour per day. After that, I will reevaluate and see if I need to put in more time, and then stick to it for the remaining two and a half months. The reason for sticking to a plan for three months is that by the end of the three months I will have developed a habit of programming on a daily basis. Once programming is a daily habit, then I’m sure to stick to it and continue to learn every day.

I plan to learn programming by mainly using online tools such as:

https://teamtreehouse.com/
https://www.w3schools.com/
https://channel9.msdn.com/
https://mva.microsoft.com/
https://www.codecademy.com/learn/web

EDIT: FORGOT TO LINK TO SOURCES
https://www.fastcompany.com/3060883/why-coding-is-the-job-skill-of-the-future-for-everyone
http://web.sageworks.com/financial-statement-analysis/?utm_source=forbes&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=04092017
http://burning-glass.com/research/coding-skills/


Please let me know if any of you have tips or links that can help me along the way. I would also like to get to know a few programmers that knows about blockchain technology, so please leave a comment if you are willing to network and be friends with me :)

What’s your opinion on the demand for programmers and what programming skills do you think will see the highest demand in the future?