If you’re learning to program, the question of why this skill is useful often arises. There are more programming jobs than developers to fill them, but you don’t have to be an engineer to benefit from knowing how to program! Here are six reasons why learning programming might be useful to you and your career—regardless of whether or not you plan on becoming a programmer.

Basic programming knowledge gives you confidence
Knowing programming gives you a powerful feeling of confidence. It’s like learning how to read and write, but for computers. Learning to code is essentially learning a new language, with its own set of vocabulary, syntax, and rules. The more confident you are in your ability to program, logically solve problems with code, and work around existing bugs or systems that don’t quite work as expected—the better off you will be in any position you pursue.

Programmers have good jobs
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there will be 1,100,000 new software development jobs created by 2024. That’s a lot of opportunity to get in on! Even if you don’t become a software developer yourself, learning programming will help you understand what developers do and communicate with them better, which is key for managing teams or being an awesome client.

It’s fun!
Lots of people ask why they should learn to code. When you’re starting out, coding is more difficult than most other things you do—and you may think that it seems a bit pointless. But, trust us: Once you get into it, programming is one of those things that has an awesome Wow! I made it work! feeling to it. That makes every frustrating minute worth your while.

The world needs programmers
Computers, apps, websites and all that other digital stuff we use every day was built by programmers. There are currently about half a million open programming jobs in America alone—that’s jobs for people who have no experience whatsoever to jobs for seasoned software engineers. That’s a lot of opportunity, but even with all that need there is still a big problem: There aren’t enough qualified candidates to fill these roles because not enough people know how to code. It’s estimated that by 2020 there will be 1.4 million computer science-related job openings, but only 400,000 computer science graduates from American universities to fill them (and those students will also be competing against developers from India and China). So it makes sense to learn how to program if you want a job in tech or anything else related to computers. But why? Why should you learn how to program? The answer is simple: Because learning how to program can make you more valuable than ever before! Coding skills are becoming increasingly important across all industries—not just technology. Businesses of all sizes need coders to build their digital products and services, so knowing how to code gives you an edge over your competition when applying for any job in today’s economy. You don’t have to become a full-time developer; knowing some basic coding skills will help you get a better understanding of what goes into creating technology products, which is especially useful when interviewing potential employers or working on team projects at school.

Knowing how computers work will make your life easier
It’s important to understand how computers work in order to make our life simpler. Being able to program will allow you to automate tasks that you used to do manually, thereby freeing up your time for more challenging activities. If you don’t learn programming now, in 10 years’ time you won’t have a choice but to use other people’s programs—instead of controlling your own destiny and automating repetitive tasks with code.

You can turn every task into a game
Think about what you need to get done, whether it’s editing a spreadsheet or writing an essay. Whenever I need to work on something, I can usually turn it into a game and make progress. For example, if I have something tedious to do like cleaning my room or doing my dishes, I try to set up games that reward me for accomplishing smaller tasks along the way. It keeps me motivated and entertained so I don’t just dread doing things. Here are some ideas