Coding or Programming

                                                           

Coding is a basic literacy in the digital age, and high schoolers must understand the technology around them. one important component of digital literacy is using essential terms properly, including programming and coding. As these terms are overlapping, they are being used interchangeably, which is not always true. In this blog, I would like to explain the main difference between these terms.  

Coding is all about writing instructions for a program in an intermediary coding language such as Python or R. In coding we communicate with machines, writing some logical; syntaxes that are understandable for computers. Therefore, when we talk about the job of coding, we mean creating these lines of code. Coding is a smaller part of a programming job. 
Programming, on the other hand, is the process of creating a complete, usable software computer that operates without errors. This process includes planning and designing the program, testing and troubleshooting challenges, and finally implementing and maintaining it. Programmers oversee the program's overall functionality as opposed to being focused solely on the specific code that operates the program. A programmer uses analytical skills to evaluate a program's issue and formulate algorithms and complex scenarios to simulate real-world experiences. It means that a programmer focuses on a larger project.  If we are coders, we may not know the overall functionality of a program, however, as programmers, we analyze the ultimate product and its performance. A programmer needs to understand codes first, in order to synthesize them for optimization.  Programming starts with coding but it will need more skills and knowledge. 

As a coding job, all we need would be a text editor program. The instructions are converted into machine-readable directions. syntaxes. however, the programming task goes beyond that. The programmer needs to test the program to ensure all compiled components work properly. It includes continuous debugging, checking, and optimization processes. two programs might produce the same product, but one is faster and saves memory effectively. Programmers always use tools to optimize the written program.  Therefore programming requires a higher level of understanding of computer programs. Because a programmer focuses on the overall functionality of a software program, they need to develop their analytical technical skills. At the high school level, we mostly focus on developing coding skills rather than programming skills. As the latter requires formal academic training in computer programming.

Coding is a part of programming that deals with writing codes that a machine can understand. Programming is a process that creates programs that involve the ratification of codes. Coding requires basic knowledge of programming skills without any software tools. In simple words, coding describes one particular skill: the act of writing computer code. Programming involves coding, as well as a range of other, related web development skills. One objective of teaching coding to high school students is to familiarize them with some fundamentals including functions, variables, data types, and data structures to give them a solid foundation for learning additional languages. Regardless of the type of program, this knowledge would be required to dive into any programming language. Coding is the language that allows humans to communicate,. Humans use language to communicate with the computer world.

Role of school in coding literacy: 

There are many clubs and competitions in schools such as chess clubs, chemistry competitions, and mathematics. Similarly, the schools engage students in coding by running coding competitions. This would be a great way for students to practice, get their hands dirty and apply their knowledge to practical applications. I found this page interesting for the importance of coding. 

·        10-reasons-why-schools-should-teach-coding

https://www.skillstruck.com/blog/10-reasons-why-schools-should-teach-coding

Ref.

https://ca.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/coding-vs-programming?aceid=&gclid=CjwKCAiA5Y6eBhAbEiwA_2ZWIV1mNv8M6hKpXOGKGlGlgatcCIFPPRVaZaDcO_ieFbRye9iSHqXhiBoC5k8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds