Apple Partners With Boys & Girls Clubs to Provide Tens of Thousands of Kids With Opportunity to Learn How to Code

Great! I develop apps in swift and it's a great experience, I think swift playgrounds is a great place to start!

I am actually planning on downloading Swift Playgrounds in the near future and dabble a bit with it. Who knows, might be the start of something. Tried learning C++, but never went anywhere. Sometimes I think coding is black magic and I’ll just never get it. The big issue is how do you create something useful or what people really want in a world software that’s already saturated?

There is literally an app for anything you could want with multiple permutations. I look at even the work of someone like Steven Troughton Smith and the apps he’s created don’t seem to be of much use although he seems to get pity praises for it. But my sense is a lot of land grab is done and over. Unless you are creating something that can cure cancer or win the lottery, it’s pretty much gaining the skills to work got a big established developer.

Don’t make software for us. Make something you want.

My question is, why is there a shortage of developers (According to other poster) if it’s such a lucrative industry over an extended amount of time, if it offers both healthy returns and stability?

Possible reasons:

* The US has a huge tech industry that revolves around the creation of intellectual property. This industry is highly lucrative for savvy investors, so there's a constant demand for workers.
* Many people who try coding don't find it enjoyable enough to do for a living. Life is comfortable enough that Americans feel they can pick careers based on enjoyment. Contrast this to less developed nations where, for example, women are significantly more prevalent in STEM. One of many statistical indicators that preference is a major element driving the shortage. Anecdotally, I've introduced many people into coding, and all of them have cited lack of enjoyment as the reason for not going further.
* The classical lecture and exam format used by many schools is antiquated and doesn't reflect how software is actually developed.
* It's a relatively new profession. Most developers are likely the first generation of developers in their families.
* Although high paying, it does not carry the same social status as other professions like being a lawyer or doctor.

Interesting that it’s an hourly rate job, and not salary based, especially at a three figures hourly. I assume that’s probably because you have different projects through different companies, and you kind of have to charge them an hourly rate versus salary, because you’re not working just for one company/client?

My other question to you would be, why is there such a demand now versus pre-pandemic? Are we seeing more people leave this industry because of what reasons?

I'm not the OP but demand is not significantly different now vs pre-pandemic. IOW, it's always been high. It's greater in general but software developers (in the US) have always made bank. Both salary and contract rates have been very good, at least going back to when I started working in the 90s. Nowadays, it's not uncommon for top CS grads to hit 6 figures starting salary.

I guess my question would be, can coding create a successful career where you’re financially lucrative? And just from the few people that I know that are into coding, they don’t make much money. So maybe depends on the employer, platform or what type of code.

However, related to the article, at least you have the opportunity for children to have an understanding of what code is from a introductory standpoint, it might lead to greater spectrums of where their strengths are for future learning workshops.

Software developers are the most in demand workers in the US currently. Six figure salaries for experienced developers has been the norm for quite a while now due to a perpetual shortage. I work independently at $125/hour, which is low compared to what agencies charge their clients. The agency I used to work at charged between $175-225/hour for my labor. My understanding is that salaries are significantly lower outside of the US though.

App Store needs more apps

lol, we need more quality apps, either for purchase at reasonable amounts or by full year license. Subscriptions I loathe.

In 10 years the computers will code themselves and all these skills will be useless like when we used to know how to configure MS-DOS autoexec.bat and config.sys files.:rolleyes:

LMAO ... same has been said in the early 80's then the 90's and the early 2000's ... coding themselves ... not even close yet.

Sorry but the Foundation still hasn't yet formed.