I have received a lot of questions after my recent articles on jobs, future opportunities and redesigns in our economies: “I want my child to be a successful coder, what do you suggest we do now in this secondary education phase?”
First, I am not a career counselor and have zero license in that space. Nonetheless, from my experiences and others I know, a child who is well groomed in physics, mathematics and chemistry at the foundational phases has a better chance of thriving, than one, who is forced to start coding and learning computer languages, without those basics.
The best developers and creators in computer science and engineering are great math and physics persons. The challenges you solve are first of the natural philosophy type, and which must be solved at the mathematics and physics level, before they are translated into codes. The coding is not really the zenith: mathematics and physics define everything.
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As a PhD student in Johns Hopkins, my main project for a course titled Computer Integrated Surgery was to build a machine that can control a needle via an endoscope/laryngoscope to get through the larynx to enable a doctor perform minimally invasive surgery of the throat, with da Vinci medical robot connected. It was a really tough engineering problem but looking at all, one had to solve complex mathematical equations which will ensure you can track the needle, the equipment, human tissues (you use markers), etc. We were grouped in pairs!
I had booked a flight to Scotland and needed to travel. I did the equations and sent the written math to my colleague, and left for Scotland. He implemented it in Python (my Python coding was basic). But he did one more thing: he wrote a complaint to the professor that I allowed him to do the work.
When I returned, the professor summoned two of us, and asked what happened. I explained that I did the math but with limited experience using Python (just largely coming from Lagos), I asked him to help since he was proficient with it. Right there, Prof Taylor said “Nd, you did this”? I responded and the guy confirmed. The Prof gave me a fellowship, and gave me a lab space, and I joined his computer science group, expanding my fellowships. He explained – the focus of the PhD is solving the math, not writing codes. With that, I had two labs – one in electrical and electronics engineering, and another in the computer science department. Hope that explains what really matters!
Of course, you need to code. But no useful coding happens without algorithms and those happen because of a good understanding of mathematics and logic. Code but be loaded with Math also to get to the sweetest part of coding (the upstream), instead of the downstream which offers nothing much.
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Comment 1: If they are mutually exclusive, then by all means a child needs to master math and physics before learning to code.
The great thing is that they can be learned together and mastered together. Coding at age 8 should actually start with a course on Computational Thinking which in itself is a serious skill for problem solving. In well designed CS curriculums for high school, students write programs to solve mathematical and physical problems, thereby integrating these three worlds in beautiful harmony. They should all be compulsory for the broad training of the child’s mind.
My Response: “Coding at age 8 should actually start with a course on Computational Thinking” – that would be super awesome if we have that. Possibly, it is integrated within Quantitative Aptitude which is possibly woven within General Mathematics in primary/secondary school. In entrance exams to move from primary to secondary school, they used to have two core components: verbal and quantitative aptitudes. That QA is actually logic which can go for this Computational Thinking. The problem now is that most of those things are making way for html syntax.
Comment 2: As someone who did physics, maths and logic at various points in my formal educational, and a programmer, I will tell you logic is fundamental and more important to coding than mathematics and/or physics. Way more important.
My Response: Logic of numbers is a branch of mathematics. In your primary school entrance exam for secondary school, you took two components: verbal and quantitative aptitudes. And everything is philosophy, the very reason why PhD is appended after those doctoral degrees. PhD in Economics means that you have mastered the philosophy of economics. Philosophy is logic. Mathematics translates it. So, if you studied the logic of numbers, you actually did mathematics.
Comment 3: Spot on Ndubuisi Ekekwe . This right here is what the big techs always look out for in candidates. The ability to grab concepts and apply them to solve problems. Explains why you will always be put to data structure & algorithms test in any serious engineering role. I once attended a white board live coding interview where a final yr electrical engr student finished top. In the room were people with years of experience, those who couldn’t make it were asked to go home and the rest proceeded with the process.
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Any kid who’s attracted to engineering should by all means study it! With that foundation, everything else feels within reach, because you already have the much needed depth to easily absorb a whole lot. Physics produces best programmers, and it’s not coincidence, it’s a preparatory ground for the sort of thinking needed to solve complex problems.
Once you have installed the engine, you can go on to learn other things that interest you, including philosophy, music, coding, economics, etc.
If you miss out on the fundamentals that make the rest of the things tick, you will remain a paperweight, irrespective of how much brilliance you exhibit.
Today, there is the misplacement of priority in this regard. Many going into coding missed the basics and jump into it . Mathematics and Physics gives you the needed foundation upon which you build. They are the building blocks. Seek first to understand your Mathematics and Physics, every other things about coding shall be added for you.
If you can get the algorithm and flowchart , the codes are 90% ready.