One of the big trends in developer news over the past year was the increasing number of companies and non-profits encouraging people to learn to code. Code.org launched last January, and over the past twelve months, 15 million people took part in its code instruction programs.
Why all the interest now? There’s a huge demand for skilled developers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that the number of development jobs will increase 30 percent between 2012 and 2020. And developers can command huge salaries. One code instruction startup called Code Fellows promises its students that they’ll land jobs that pay $60,000 or their money back—and it’s increasing that amount to $100,000 for some students.
ReadWrite’s Lauren Orsini writes, “2013 has been a wakeup call that learning to code is more important than ever. If you’re not already on board, perhaps it’s the perfect 2014 New Year’s resolution.”
