National Coding Week is here

National Coding Week is upon us. That's why we thought it would be great to compile some quotes from industry experts to talk about what they think is most important about learning how to coding - a question seen through many different lenses.

“Today, software drives business. So, if an organization wants to excel, it needs to become a software-powered juggernaut. To achieve this, companies can gain a competitive advantage by the speed, quality, and efficiency of software releases. But it can’t be done without skilled development teams that are supported by strong and fluent coders. Code creates the foundation that developers build upon and create with; without it, there’d be no structure. When I think of the basic skills any organization­ - from startup to large enterprise - must have within its ranks, it’s the ability to write code that meets rapidly-changing software needs with speed and at scale. Coding is its own language but it’s no longer just the language of tech, it’s a language of all business.” - Bob Davis, CMO, Plutora

"Employees with coding skills are now essential personnel in the modern enterprise. Good coders have a unique skill set. Yes, they’re technical, but they are also creative, innovative and incredibly good problem solvers. When you run into a bug or vulnerability, if you don’t have a good coder on hand, you’re in trouble. The demand for coding skills is already high, but this is only going to increase over the next few years. We’re at the dawn of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). These technologies are transforming the way we process and analyze data, offering incredible insight to inform sales and marketing, network security, and even product design. We need more people with the skills to manage these evolving technologies. National Coding Week is a great platform to highlight the importance of coding education; more should be done to help students - as well as those already in the workplace - learn and develop these high-priority skills." - Tim Matthews, CMO, Exabeam

“The last two decades have been shaped by pervasive connectivity, the internet, and Web 2.0 technologies. This era has given rise to e-commerce titans like Amazon, hyper-growth SaaS platforms like Salesforce.com and Workday, and media and content ecosystems like Apple. We are now entering a new epoch driven by big data, semantic computing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, and 5G. So, what does this all mean for coders? First, software developers need to be bigger continuous learners than ever before as these new technologies bring with them new programming paradigms, new open source ecosystems and new tools. Secondly, data, algorithms, neural networks, and natural language processing are becoming deeply intertwined in code, requiring more end-to-end systems knowledge than ever before. For those seeking a career in technology, the need for data scientists will continue to outstrip demand as the world is currently generating 2.5 quintillion bytes of data a day." - Todd Krautkremer, CMO, Cradlepoint

“As the pace of global cybercrime continues to grow, the demand is outpacing the supply of security professionals who can help combat the ever-increasing threat. Cybersecurity Ventures estimated the total of unfilled security jobs is expected to reach 3.5 million by 2021. In the face of rising demand and a limited supply of security professionals, companies are forced to put added pressure on security and developer teams, who in turn, suffer job fatigue and stress, by working longer hours for their growing workloads. With the problematic shortage of security, organizations are consistently operating understaffed, and team members don’t have time to train for advanced skills like security analytics. This forces more experienced team members to pick up the slack, adding to job fatigue and stress.

"Moreover, many security professionals desire to have a real impact on the world, becoming emotionally invested in their jobs, which consequently adds to stress levels. As a result, burnout is a real phenomenon in security and software development. Professionals can combat this dilemma and achieve a work-life balance through a variety of strategies: 1. Food, Exercise, Sleep - Carve out times in the day to nourish the body, as well as the brain, with exercise, enough sleep, and a healthy diet. It’s unrealistic to be productive throughout the day, without resting or eating healthy foods. 2. Collaborate and Delegate - It’s easy to get burnt out when you are acting as the sole point of contact on a project. Teams are there for a reason, so collaborate and delegate items among other team members. 3. New Hobbies - Spending all day coding, and then going home and coding for personal enjoyment can turn into burnout quickly. Spend less time coding recreationally, and instead focus on new hobbies that can encourage creativity. 4. A DevSecOps Approach - Bridge the gap between security and DevOps, through a DevSecOps approach to ensure teams can find vulnerabilities before cybercrime can ensue. By uncovering and remediating vulnerabilities, professionals can solve problems before they arise, minimizing the extra burden of security.” - Eric Sheridan, Chief Scientist, WhiteHat Security

“The ability to code is essential in today’s job market, especially in a world where one-size-fits-all IT infrastructure solutions seldom satisfy companies' unique business requirements. In the workplace, developers have the skillset to empower hybrid IT strategies, creating a diverse mix of IT environments and technologies through their code. During National Coding Week, it’s important to recognize the vitality of learning to code, and the valuable impact that coding has on fast-changing businesses. Coding is powerful, and in the future, it will continue to push our digital world to new levels of innovation, ” said Matt VanderZwaag, director of product development at US Signal.” - Matt VenderZwaag, Director of Product Development, US Signal