Wake up your programming genes

I would have been laugh in the past if I had been told that I would be able to work at Google as a technical post after graduating from a degree in economics. In 2008, I took part in Google's business rotation project, where participants will experience three different business areas, from the welfare Department to the personnel function, for a period of two years. In just a few months, I found myself becoming obsessed with technology, interested in programming, and eventually attracted me to join the G2G project and start teaching programming introductory courses to non-engineer employees in Google.

Google California Kings View headquarters, teaching programming in the introductory programming class

When I was in the welfare department, my job consisted of checking the names, departments and positions of hundreds of Googler. I quickly realized that only a few simple programs needed to be written to speed up work and reduce errors. But the only problem is that I don't program.

So I started to teach myself Python programming, a programming language that was clear and well suited for beginners. Slowly, I first made a multifunctional automatic spreadsheet and then developed a network application that could be shared within a group. My colleagues saw my newfound skills save time and asked me to teach them how to code; Eventually, a small conference room with a whiteboard made it possible to start a programming course.

Since then, more than 200 Googler have taken part in programming introductory classes. In the classroom, we strive to create an atmosphere of openness and mutual assistance, so that employees can broaden their horizons and learn new skills better. Some of the students I've taught have even turned themselves into full-time engineers from the former global Department of Commerce, Finance, and business. I'm very pleased with that, but what makes me happy is that employees are able to use what they have learned in their programming classes to improve their productivity, regardless of their department. For example, a management assistant who has been in an entry-level class has set up a program for her working group to automatically respond to email research, thereby increasing productivity.

In addition to solving business problems, I've seen Googler use the knowledge learned in the introductory programming class to help others, both inside and outside the company. Recently, an entry-level worker has written a Python registration tool to help other employees search online to make an appointment for a flu vaccination based on their preferred location and time, thereby greatly increasing the rate of free influenza vaccination. With the help of this registration tool, thousands of Googler registered for vaccination. And since Google has donated a large number of vaccines, such as meningitis and pneumonia vaccines, to children in developing countries, the employee's registration tool has helped more children get vaccinated.

More than 200 Googler attended a 11-week course (of course, the sword in my hand helps students to focus ...). Don't worry, it's a bubble!

For me, the most important thing about the G2G project is that the person in the personnel department can teach his colleagues to learn programming. It is a great reward for me to be able to experience the students ' study results in the first time. Googler the principles and skills he learned in the introductory classes of programming into time management, e-mail communications, and even entertainment--they developed "Frog Cross Street" games, and they played the ultimate in programming skills. I often wonder how wonderful it would be if every googler could take part in a programming class and use the knowledge they learned to improve their productivity.

If you are interested in programming, here are three tips for choosing from an introductory course that can help you in practice. By learning to program, in various fields have benefited a lot!

Practice and theory. You can learn well by doing. When learning programming, it is best to find a project practice and accumulate the necessary knowledge in practice.

Bad habits are hard to change. If you are writing very confusing or complex code, then you are developing a bad habit that is difficult to correct. It is better to try to correct it at the beginning, lest it should come back again.

Learn from feedback. The program "can be used" does not mean "easy to use." Keep listening to the advice of experienced people so you can learn how to do better, not just enough.