In this article let’s take a look at pros and cons of learning coding to understand whether coding and programming or software development is a good career option or not.
If you are someone who is confused regarding whether you should choose coding and programming or
software development as a career option or not then you should read this article till the end and I would also recommend you to bookmark this article to check it in future as well.
So let’s jump right in.
Table of Contents
Pros and cons of coding
Pros of coding
High demand & great skill
One of the main advantages of learning coding is that it is highly demanded skill.
According to bls, the average job growth of coders is around 22% between 2020-2030.
Coding and programming skill will give you a great power to create software and tools on your computer using your mind, ideas, problem solving skills and creativity and impact millions of people who can use your product in future.
What makes coding unique is that it activates both hemispheres of the brain, which results in your brain developing as a whole.
Furthermore, coding has also been proved to improve intuitive thinking and exercise imagination
Coding can enable you to turn your ideas into products and services.
Because of that, you can find more than 140000 job openings on platforms like naukri.com for coders and programmers at present.
High paying skill
This is one of the biggest advantages when it comes to coding and programming as a career option.
According to bureau of labour statistics the average salary of programmer in America is around 110,000$ per annum.
The entry level salary of software engineer in America is around 42, 000$ per annum, you can check the average salary of all the programmers in America here.
And according to pay scale the average salary of coder and programmer in India is around 500000 rupees per annum.
You should keep in mind the word average in both the salaries of America and India and there are many coders who make thousands of dollars every month and
the amount of money you make will depend upon a couple of factors like your skill set, the company which hired you, the country and location where you live, your experience and position in the company, etc.
Work anywhere
This is an underappreciated advantage which coders have In their career which is that as a coder you can work from anywhere in the world.
All you need is a computer or laptop and good internet connection and obviously access to some software and tools to get started writing code.
And you do not need to move to a physical office in order to work which means that you can work from anywhere from home or also while travelling.
Because of this reason even during the covid pandemic which resulted in the shut down of the factories and offices across the globe and millions of people have lost their job because of lock downs and pandemic but
Doctors and coders are a few professions who have not lost their job but the demand for those people has increased during the period and
the most important reason was that they can work from home as well and they don’t need to move to office in order to do the work.
Wide career options
Another advantage of coding as a profession is that it can have wide career options and opportunities like,
- Software application developer.
- Web developer.
- Computer systems engineer.
- Database administrator.
- Computer systems analyst.
- Software quality assurance (QA) engineer.
- Business intelligence analyst.
- Computer programmer
And many more.
You can also specialise in specific programming languages and become developer in that field like Java developer or python developer.
Because of such wide variety of career options you can choose anyone depending upon your interest, skill, and you can master in that field and make money and you can also switch between different career options in future if you want.
Good future
Another big advantage of coding is that it has a good future and even though artificial intelligence and robots can automate millions of jobs in the upcoming future and replace human beings
but when it comes to coding and programming the artificial intelligence cannot replace humans in coding profession because coding requires problem solving skills,
emotional intelligence and creativity which artificial intelligence cannot acquire.
Artificial intelligence can help coders by automating certain repetitive tasks which do not require efforts of humans but the core tasks of programmers cannot get automated by AI.
Work for MNCs
Another big advantage of being a coder is that you can get a chance to work in many multinational companies and also National companies in your country.
For example if you are from India then you can get a chance to work in companies like,
- Amazon
- Netflix
- Microsoft
- Qualcomm
And many more.
Because of this reason you can get to choose which company you want to work for and you can also get internship opportunities and gain experience and exposure and also meet new people and increase your network as well.
Become a freelancer or start a business
Another big reason to choose coding is that you can choose to become a freelance coder and quit your job or you can also start your own tech startup.
In fact there are many freelance coders who are making thousands of dollars every month and there are also people who started their own business and startup by creating any software.
There are many business men like Elon Musk, bill gates and mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page and many more who learnt programming and started many multi billion dollar businesses.
You can click here to learn all the business ideas you can start as a programmer.
No college degree needed
Another big advantage of learning coding is that you can get a job in many companies without ever getting a degree in computer science, information technology or coding.
Because at the end of the day the skills and experience is what matters to companies so, many companies are now hiring people who have good skills irrespective of whether they have College degree and certificate or not.
And you can easily learn coding on many platforms like code academy, coding Ninja and taking courses on udemy and coursera, and
you can also clear your doubts of coding on platforms like stack over flow with huge community of coders of the world.
And you do not need to spend more than 4 years and thousands of dollars in college to get the degree if you can learn coding online with several bootcamps in affordable price.
These are all the advantages of choosing coding as a career option.
Cons of coding
It is not everyone’s cup of tea
One of the main disadvantages of coding is that it is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Even though there is a popular trend among many people and youth regarding learning coding and everyone wants to become a coder and programmer
but the hard reality and truth is that it is not everyone’s cup of tea and not everyone can & should become a coder.
People are so excited about coding is because it offers huge salary packages and also has a good future and demand but
you should not solely choose to learn coding because of its salary package it offers, if you do that the motivation will not last long.
There are some people like Bill gates and Mark Zuckerberg who have the skill of coding from their childhood and they are good at coding naturally
but majority of the people are not going to be like that so if you want to be good at coding you should put a lot of hard work and time in order to learn the coding and solve the problems.
The process of learning the coding has a steep learning curve and also requires a lot of time and effort, it can also be sometimes boring and
frustrating to some people while they are learning the code especially when they find bugs & unable to solve the problems in the code.
Less job satisfaction for majority
Another big disadvantage of why you should not choose coding as a career is that it can have less job satisfaction for majority of the people.
Even though the code that you write and the software which you create can impact millions of people throughout
the world but the process can be quite boring and frustrating for some people because you will have to write thousands of lines of code and you will have to spend a lot of time finding bugs and solving them.
Coding as a job is less appreciated career compared to others because your work is behind the doors or behind the screen.
Long hours in front of computer
Another big disadvantage of learning coding and choosing it as a career option is that you will have to work in front of your computer for long hours straight.
This can be a disadvantage for people who like to participate in groups, engage with other people and who are extrovert people and you can have less social life because majority of your work will be done in front of computer.
Typically most programmers and coders work around 40 to 50 hours per week.
Health risks
Because of the fact that you will have to work long hours in front of computer it can for the lead to many health risks and problems such as
- You can develop obesity
- You can develop eye strain
- You can get back pain, neck pain, fingers pain, etc.
You can get many other health related problems because of constantly staring at the screen of the computer for extended period of time typing the code.
Keep updated with changing technology
Another big disadvantage of coding as a career option is that it is constantly changing with the changing technology.
If you want to continue working as a coder in future you have to keep yourself updated with changing technology and new programming languages, you should continue to evolve , and if you are not open minded and aware of all the changes happening around in the industry, you cannot be successful.
Competition is immense
Another big reason why you should avoid coding as a career option is because it is quite competitive career option.
According to Evans Data Corporation Data’s at present there are approximately 26 million software developers in the world and this number is expected to grow by 28.5 million by 2024 because more people are choosing software career because of its benefits and salary packages.
Because of such extreme competition if you are not constantly updating your skills and being a competitive person then some other person would take your position.
These are all the advantages and disadvantages of coding, programming or software developer as a career option.
Is learning coding worth it?
After reading all the advantages and disadvantages I still believe that learning coding is definitely worth it not for everyone but for few people.
You should know for a fact that coding and any other job in the world is not suited for everyone.
Coding and programming can be a good career option for you if,
- You have no worries and issues with working on computer for long hours of time
- You are an introvert person
- You have problem solving skills
- You have critical and analytical thinking
- You are creative person
- You are a competitive person
- You have high levels of patience and you are always open minded and willing to learn new things
In all these cases coding and programming can be a good career option.
With that said let’s end the article.
Conclusion
These are all the things you need to know about coding as a career option.
Do let me know your thoughts about coding and programming as a career in the comments section below
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