The College of Humanities just added a new language for undergrads. But you don’t speak it, you type it.
Modern-day companies, institutions, and establishments run off of hard work and lots of computers. This makes computer literacy essential in most workplaces—and having a basic understanding of coding can take you even further. Starting in fall 2024, Associate Research Professor Jeremy Browne (Digital Humanities) began offering an entry-level course in Python, a computer language used to create websites, analyze data, and develop software for a variety of occupations. Though many first-time Python users find the language confusing, Browne believes this skillset will come in handy regardless of their future profession.
Curb the Learning Curve
Most of Browne’s students in this class (DigHT 210) haven’t had any experience with coding or programming when they start. In fact, these students come from all over campus, studying anything from history to global supply chain management, editing and publishing, or family history. “If we can succeed in getting [students] to function in the Python language, then it’s a big asset to them moving forward,” Browne says. “These skills are going to add value to [your education], regardless of what your degree is.”
Already, Browne has taught students who have gone on to use their coding in passion projects and even in the workplace. However, he believes that learning to code will influence undergrads beyond their professional lives. Browne explains that by the end of the course, students know how to code and how to reason through complicated problems in general—all because they took the time to learn Python.
Code Once, Code for Life
For many of Browne’s students, learning Python proves both exciting and frustrating. “It’s just like being in a foreign language classroom,” he explains. “At some point, regardless of how much you study, you will probably run into a day where you get lost.”
Even if you never write another line of code, it can help you and your problem-solving moving forward.
Browne helps students navigate difficulties by teaching them different methods for problem-solving. Flow charts have become an integral part of this process because they help students slow down and pinpoint the issues their code needs to fix before writing it. Browne hopes this trick will help ease students’ frustrations down the road—even when they’re not coding. “The ability to take complex problems, break them down, and articulate them is one of the benefits,” Browne says. “Even if you never write another line of code, it can help you and your problem-solving moving forward.”
By the end of each semester, Browne hopes undergrads will leave his class feeling confident in their coding. At the same time, he hopes the experience will help them overcome any apprehension about coding: “There’s no reason to be terrified of the computer or of programming; it’s something that mortals do all the time.”
Visit BYU’s Course Catalog to learn more about Browne’s “Introduction to Programming” class.