The digitization of the world over the past thirty years has brought computer programming close to countless peoples’ lives. With special consideration for the internet of things (IoT), we can see that people now constantly interact with complex computer programs that allow them to do things like remotely power on and off lights, lock doors, or even order from Amazon through their smart car.
This integration between electronics and human lives doesn’t simply occur in our external lives. In fact, the closer humans live with technology, the more we understand and interact with that technology on a deeper level.
Sure, complex ideas may remain out of reach, like understanding machine learning or artificial intelligence. However, many colleges and institutions of higher learning are beginning to make classes on skills like coding obligatory.
Coding, in short, provides the basics of computer programming and the associated computer programming languages. This means that coders create sets of instructions that define what a computer program is supposed to do. While every single computer program follows a basic outline of syntax (considered the grammar of coding language), each program uses a different language, from the most common forms of HTML and CSS to more advanced program languages like Javascript to Python to C++. These are called programming languages (PL).
Each language has a different application. Javascript covers web, mobile, and desktop app development, while C++ focuses specifically on game development, advanced computations, and graphics. These languages help a coder define the programming environment, data types, variables, keywords, loops, functions, and input and output operations.
However, for those beginning the journey into coding, these concepts and keywords can be confusing and disorienting. After all, learning to code is like learning another language, akin to moving from a Latin alphabet to Chinese characters. It can be difficult to understand coding at its fundamental level of creation, but also just how foundational coding can be applied to the real world through applications, websites, or a combination of both.
A great example is online gaming which is ‘competing’ with real-life sports. As a booming industry that’s expected to have a net worth of nearly $100 billion by 2024, it’s a worthwhile venture. Companies are scrambling to create more dynamic gaming experiences, with leading sites such as FanDuel offering free bets for newcomers. However, creating a gaming experience is incredibly difficult from a coding perspective. It not only includes elements of design and user experience (UX) but also gaming-specific needs, such as random number generators (RNGs), as well as adherence to local betting laws.
However, we will first move through two more common iterations of coding before moving on to the complex example set out by online gaming. Events and task management are common applications of coding that help develop basic skills and can be undertaken by beginners.
Events Systems
For our first example, we’ll look at creating an aggregator, which pulls existing information from other sites and organizes it. This means that a coder won’t be responsible for creating a platform that organizes a variety of events, like popular websites Meetup and Eventbrite, but will instead pull streams of data from each.
A coder can easily create an aggregator, a simple program that searches for keywords in an event name and description. The coder will create a system that chooses which keywords are flagged and how those events are listed and organized.
This will also introduce a beginner coder to APIs for sites like Meetup and Eventbrite. An API is an application programming interface, which is an intermediary between separate programs (the ‘stream of data’ mentioned above). Much like the language each coder chooses to learn, they’ll also need to interact with a variety of APIs to gain greater understanding and personal insight into the types of systems they prefer.
Task Management Systems
Given the recent boom of all things tech-related, even the most basic services and products now need to interact in an online setting. This means that coders are in high demand even at the most basic starting level. This also means that there are ample online resources for those interested in beginning their journey into coding.
Take a site like KanbanFlow, which creates task boards and also offers several modular features. This provides coders an opportunity to really dig in and start creating those complex systems mentioned in the introduction. At its core, coding has to be a flawless, sequentially-sound system based on finite input.
Task management systems are profoundly simple yet can become more and more complex based on the quantity of input by the user. In particular, KanbanFlow and similar websites create specific challenges for beginning coders that can only be addressed through experience and practice.
Some of these challenges include UI and UX. While coders aren’t normally responsible for design-related issues, it’s important to consider and integrate these concerns, given that coders make up the foundation of large teams.
Coding for Online Gaming
Given the competition to create a viable and fun online gaming platform, coders will be challenged at all levels of design and performance (remember the aforementioned emphasis on UI and UX).
Users within this industry are going to be looking for seamless user navigability as well as an engaging and exciting design; the site needs to deliver on gaming while also standing out from other competitors, and it also needs to follow regulations set out by regional governments. For instance, the US has enacted a variety of complex laws on the federal and state level that either prohibit or allow for specific types of gaming, which creates a minefield for coders in terms of back-end work.
In addition, the technology used to regulate online gaming differs greatly from event aggregation or task management modules. Specifically, games such as slots and roulette require RNGs, which is a specific feature that has to be integrated into the program. And in the case of slots, these RNGs need to relate to RTPs, which is the Return to Player. This RTP occurs after a certain amount of games are played but will require an API transfer of data, known commonly as an ‘API call.’
Online gaming sites also tend to suffer from crashes, which can be a result of massive user participation or faulty coding, given all the complex, moving pieces mentioned above. While working on creating an online gaming site is a highly specialized form of coding, it offers beginners insight into the complex workings of computer programming.
