Introducing children to the concept of computer programming, the Coding workshop that took place yesterday (Monday, May 24) at the 12^th Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) empowered children to get a grip on how they can use computers to create innovative software programmes in future without being intimidated by technology.

“Coding is important for children because if you look back, people did not need to know how to create an email account 30 years ago. But now, email is crucial to our lives! Similarly, coding will help these young minds learn a skill I believe most of them will need in future,” said technical trainer Omar who was presenting the workshop.

Omar opined that when it comes to data analysis and crunching numbers, we have programmed computers do it better than us humans. What will take us years to complete can easily be accomplished in minutes, thanks to coding.

“I have performed tasks which have taken me 8 – 10 hours to complete. With a little bit of coding I was able to finish those very tasks in less than five mins,” added Loay Mohtar, who was accompanying Omar in presenting the workshop.

Just as humans communicate with one another through various languages, coding is the language the computer knows, understands and uses to create software, applications and websites. Gaining exposure to understanding what coding is through immersive workshops like these at a young age certainly enables children to hone their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.