Inspired By Silicon Valley, I Now Want To Be A Quirky Coder. Hello Python!
I have been binge-watching Silicon Valley on HBO Max, and it has made me want to code. I think I am having a mid-life crisis, which might be related, but at 52, I have decided to learn Python and HTML. I am such a novice that I don’t even know what type of coding I want to do, but I am assuming I will discover that as I learn. I’m also assuming I will be brilliant. Reality may disagree.
I assume AI will be replacing a lot of coding jobs but confess to massive ignorance on the matter. As a writer, occasional art creator, and masochist, I might as well look into other jobs that AI is making harder.
Also, you should watch Silicon Valley, it is hilarious. I have a friend who builds databases or something, and he says the show is spot on.
Silicon Valley is a love letter to quirky coders and startups
The show features a group of misfit coders developing a platform called Pied Piper in – you can probably guess – Silicon Valley. It lampoons / takes the piss out of / satirises the life of tech types in the competitive and unique world they live in. Think incredibly smart but socially awkward people sitting in bean bags, or coding for days while drinking energy drinks and organic smoothies.
It’s on HBO Max, which I have only just signed up for, and I have been bingeing a lot of brilliant stuff there. (The Penguin is great too, you can read my review here.)
Silicon Valley ran from 2014-2019 and comes from Mike Judge who created Beavis and Butthead, Office Space, and Idiocracy among others. He has done other things, but those are the ones I’ve watched, enjoyed, and highly recommend.
It is a hilarious show, with superb characters and acting. If you like Mike Judge, witty comedy, and nerd stuff, give it a go.
AI is changing things, so maybe coding’s not the best career. But it will be handy
Thanks to AI, the show is a bit dated, and coding has been ruled out as a potential career for me. I am still navigating the weird and not-so-wonderful world of digital writing post-AI, and I have over 30 years of experience as a journalist. I don’t want to wade into something else likely to be disrupted by AI with bugger all knowledge. Like writing, I suspect experienced coders will be fine, but newbs like me will probably be screwed.
But knowing code is still going to be massively helpful.
As I mentioned, Python seems a good bet. I read a load of posts on r/learnprogramming and everyone says it is one of the easiest learn and is an incredibly versatile language. I would also like to learn stuff like HTML for websites.
I have two websites, a Medium page, and a Substack. The latter two are platforms and so my potentially brilliant newfangled coding skills won’t apply. But on this site and on Scifi Ward a bit of knowledge is helpful, despite WordPress doing all the heavy lifting.
Most of the time, things run smoothly, but not always. I have tried to change headers or themes and faced the odd issue. These and other issues are often flagged up in terms that seem similar to English but not quite. Other problems like ‘This is a non-JSON response’ or some bollocks about a problem on line 321 or an SQL database something or other are just baffling.
Knowing a bit of code and computer science will massively help with this. I already have ‘basic knowledge of HTML’ on my CV and that is entirely based on my going into this website’s code, making a minor change, saving it, checking and finding the website is now broken, changing it again, and repeat until fixed. That’s not ideal.
Final thoughts and the immediate future
I don’t want to live the kind of life shown in Silicon Valley, although I would like the paychecks they earn. As a writer, I can lead the same life already, but instead of code, I am splurging words on a screen. I can do that from a beanbag or by a swimming pool. And have done frequently.
The plan for now is to:
1 – Finish watching Silicon Valley. It’s brilliant and probably counts as research.
2 – Look into platforms like Code Academy and YouTube for classes. I guess, somewhat ironically, I could also use AI for lessons too.
If you are reading this, I don’t know if you are interested in coding or the show Silicon Valley. Or maybe both like me. For now, I can guarantee that Silicon Valley is fun – but coding may be boring or awesome. So watch the show first, it counts as an insight into the sector and is therefore background research. I hope that helps.
If you want to check the show out, you can get it here.
This post has some affiliate links that don’t cost you a penny.
