Learn the skills to get a job in America's third-best occupation

There's basically nothing Seun Erinle can look at these days without glimpsing ghosts of computer code.

Where other people see a chair, the 31-year-old designer and computer science educator sees the programming that told a factory machine how to cut out its component pieces.

Recognizing the role that coding plays is important, she says, because even though it underlies so many aspects of modern life, it's often taken for granted by those who lack familiarity with how computer programming works.

"It's important to learn how to code, or at least to become familiar with it, so you have more of an understanding and a respect for all the things we use in our lives that involve coding," Erinle says. "We all know how to go somewhere and use something, but we don't know what it took to create that thing.

"I think if people become familiar with coding, they can see how to apply it to other parts of their lives. They'll see how awesome this app they're using is because they'll have an idea what went into making it."

Last year, Erinle founded A.I.R. Labs, a Southside-based computer laboratory and school that offers single-day workshops and multi-week courses covering subjects such as web development, 3D modeling and digital design. It's one of a bevy of coding classes and weekly informal meetings in Chattanooga where would-be software developers can learn to program or hone their coding skills.

"We are lucky to live in a town that is beginning to value computer science," says Jill Pieritz, the chair of the computer science department at Girls Preparatory School. "People are realizing that they could use these skills in their jobs or these skills might qualify them for a new job. Students are learning that the power to create your own programs is fun and valuable."

Between 2014 and 2015, the number of high school students nationwide who took the rigorous, multihour exam for the Advanced Placement college equivalency course in computer science increased by 25 percent. That growth was faster than in any other course, and computer science was named the 2015 Subject of the Year by the College Board, the national association that oversees AP programs.

"I think this is due to raising public awareness of the need to study computer science," Pieritz says. "I have been standing on my soapbox for 10 years now arguing the benefits of studying computer science. People are just more apt to listen now versus five years ago.

"The ubiquity of computing has become apparent [and] the projections for computing jobs in the future have continued to grow, making this a discipline that has a bright future after college."

Coding curriculum

The recent proliferation of coding education opportunities - online and offline - echoes a resounding cry to incorporate programming into the American grade-school curriculum.

In December 2013, Hadi and Ali Partovi, a pair of Silicon Valley-based tech investors, founded Code.org, an educational nonprofit with the guiding philosophy that "every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science."

Napster founder Sean Parker, Microsoft founder and former CEO Bill Gates and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have all donated millions to the site, and its mission has been endorsed by an all-star cast, including actors Angela Bassett and Ashton Kutcher, musician will.i.am and President Barack Obama.

"While no one is born a computer scientist, becoming a computer scientist isn't as scary as it sounds. With hard work and a little math and science, anyone can do it," the president says in a video supporting Hour of Code, Code.org's annual weeklong initiative to organize free, one-hour coding tutorials that introduce students - young and old alike - to programming basics.

"Take an hour to learn more about the technology that touches every part of our lives," Obama continues. "That's how you can prepare yourself with the skills you need for your future, and it's how you can help prepare our country for the future as well."

According to the Hour of Code site, more than 136 million people have participated in its events in the last two years. In Chattanooga, Hour of Code tutorials have been hosted by the Chattanooga Public Library and the TechTown learning center, both downtown, and more than a dozen elementary, middle and high schools.

During an October policy event sponsored by the Washington Post, Chicago mayor and former Obama administration Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recommended making computer coding competency a federal requirement for graduation from high school. By 2018, coding proficiency will required at all Chicago high schools, a benchmark Emmanuel says should be set for students nationwide.

"In the last 30 years, dual language was referred to as English and Spanish. Computer code writing is now the dual language. You have to know it," he said at the Washington Post event. "They [students] need to know this stuff. In the way that I can get by kind of being OK by it, they can't."

Not all programmers agree that learning to code should be mandatory. As with any subject, programming won't necessarily resonate with some people, Erinle says.

"I think it's great to have an intro course, and if kids take that course and decide to further their knowledge and education about coding through other classes, then yes, we should let children do that," she says. "But I don't think we need to have every kid in every school learn every line of code.

"Not everyone needs to learn to speak French. We're not going to force everyone to learn to speak French because we're allies with France."

More than a paycheck

With a median salary of more than $92,000 and a projected growth of 22.8 percent by 2022, software development was named the third best job in America on U.S. News and World Report's 2015 list of The 100 Best Jobs. The annual feature ranks occupations based on pay, stress level, opportunities for advancement and the availability of open positions.

"Software developers are in high demand right now," the report reads. "The profession's superb job prospects, low unemployment rate and excellent median salary helped it grab a top spot in our Best Jobs of 2015 rankings."

Three years ago, when he couldn't get a job with his geology degree, Jake Redish re-enrolled at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the computer sciences program. Although he still has one class left before he'll officially receive his degree, Redish already has been hired as a full-time software engineer at Unum.

The 27-year-old admits that the money is nice, but he says his love of computer programming is rooted in an almost philosophical appreciation for its seemingly limitless applications.

"You can do anything with [coding]," he says. "There really is no ceiling to what you can make. If it's not out there, you can make it yourself, and there are people to help you. It's a very good community."

Whether they're interested in attaining a surface-level familiarity with how computers function or pursuing a career in software or web development, programmers say coding is an all-ages subject. So long as you possess a willingness to learn, to adapt and to grow from your failures, you can be a programmer, GPS' Pieritz says.

"Anyone can learn to code. And everyone should learn to code," she says. "Computer science is growing and evolving all of the time. This is not the discipline to go into if you want things to stay the way they were 20 years ago.

"It really all depends on your motivation to learn."

Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.