Getting to Know Your Environment
Pop culture often markets computer programmers as outsiders, lone wolves, or geeky hackers. People possessing extraordinary mental gifts for algorithmic thought, little social IQ, and the odd anarchic bent. While this is not the case, there is something to the idea that learning to code fundamentally changes the way you look at the world. The good news is your naturally curious mind already wants to see these kinds of patterns in the world, and you may even come to enjoy this new way of thinking.
From the moment your eyes snap open in the morning to the last glimpse of your ceiling fan before you go to sleep, you're unconsciously using analytical skills that translate to programming—you're just missing the right language and syntax to map those life skills into code. You know your age, right? That's a variable. When you cross the street, I presume you look down the road in both directions before stepping off the curb like...
