{"id":5258,"date":"2017-01-12T11:47:36","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T11:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marvel7077.wpengine.com\/?p=5258"},"modified":"2017-01-16T14:32:09","modified_gmt":"2017-01-16T14:32:09","slug":"its-not-the-code-you-struggle-with-its-the-maths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shopjessicabuckley.com\/blog\/its-not-the-code-you-struggle-with-its-the-maths\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Not the Code You Struggle With, It\u2019s the\u00a0Maths"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone can make use of code today: entrepreneurs, designers, artists, a 10-year-old girl, or a 90-year-old man. Also, anyone can learn to code if they try \u2014 I wrote about it before, concluding you don\u2019t need a degree to be any good:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Not Smart, I Just Sat There for Longer Than You<\/span>If anyone\u2019s struggling with coding, or just learning something difficult, this post might give you some sort of weird hope.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/section>\n

Welcome to part 2<\/h3>\n

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This time, I want to show you code in a different light \u2014 one with people<\/em> at the forefront, not numbers or machines. Code literacy has become important in many professions, making it increasingly difficult to pinpoint where it fits as a skill. For example, designers use code to take ideas and prototypes to the next level, which has lead to the infamous question, \u201cShould designers code?<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\"Maybe a better question could be: Should designers use code to design?\"<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

Whatever the question or answer, we\u2019re seeing more people who think and learn differently, wanting to understand<\/em> code and use it in their own way. These are people with specialities in \u2018artistry, empathy, and seeing the big picture\u2019 \u2014 all skills of the right brain<\/em>, as opposed to the left brain<\/em>, as highlighted by Daniel Pink in Revenge of the Right Brain<\/a>. His article suggests to me that the use of code in the future could differ from past norms:<\/p>\n

\"The world changed. The future no longer belongs to people who can reason with computer-like logic, speed, and precision. It belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind.\"<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve experienced this myself having often crossed the lines between design and engineering, so hopefully in this article, I can show you a perspective on coding that spells the end of the stereotypical developer<\/em> \u2014 there are<\/em> coders who understand people and emotion (if there weren\u2019t before)!<\/p>\n

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\"There are coders who understand people and emotion (if there weren\u2019t before)!\"<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

Breaking coding stereotypes<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m not sure why, but the minute I mention I can code, I\u2019m suddenly put in the developer box. I think that's because programming has too often been linked with those who excel in maths and logic (or the left brainers) in the past. It\u2019s evident in hiring too, with whiteboard coding interviews used to screen any job that involves code for those linear skills, as I found when interviewing with Google.<\/p>\n

The job was on the design team as front-end developer \u2014 a design prototyping<\/i> role. More of these jobs are emerging, where design and technical skills combine, since understanding the workings of both worlds can be invaluable. Anyway, despite the nature of the role, I was still hit with the same old whiteboard test, and here\u2019s how it went:<\/p>\n

Google interview ????<\/h3>\n

My thought process:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018What? An algorithm in plain JavaScript... to make... rainbow text?\u2019
\n\u2018How do I even write a JavaScript function without autocomplete<\/a> helping me?\u2019
\n\u2018I know the answer to this one... it\u2019s on Google.\u2019
\n\u2018Fine, let\u2019s both just watch me struggle\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m still not sure how many use cases there are for creating 'r<\/span>a<\/span>i<\/span>n<\/span>b<\/span>o<\/span>w<\/span> t<\/span>e<\/span>x<\/span>t<\/span>'.<\/p>\n

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\"Rainbow

Rainbow problems (Image credit: Moelhores Gifs do Mundo<\/a>)<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

Making it also requires a way of thinking that's different to what I\u2019ve experienced when using code for design. Knowing how to loop through text in JavaScript is fine, but the small maths bits in the answer<\/a> (e.g. 360 * i \/ text.length<\/code><\/a>) really tripped me up.<\/p>\n

I never learned \u2018how to crack the coding interview\u2019<\/em>, since I already struggle with calculating the change from buying a chocolate bar with a \u00a310 note. And there\u2019s no way I\u2019m willing to spend 8 months learning how to pass a test<\/a> just to get a job when I don\u2019t enjoy it.<\/p>\n

After realising I would need those left brain<\/i> skills to really progress with a career in code, I went and wrote about it<\/a>, then decided to focus on design as a profession employers would pay me for. Until that is, the perspective of code changes in the future, as Pink predicted<\/a> (over 10 years ago): \"Engineers will have to master different aptitudes, relying more on creativity than competence.<\/em>\"<\/p>\n

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\"Engineers will have to master different aptitudes, relying more on creativity than competence.\"<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n