A simple way to "get more people to code"

March 19th, 2014

Disclaimers

I'm not a citizen of a country where "getting more people to code" is a widely shared concern. While my proposal seems to me like a simple solution to a simple problem, this is merely an outsider's observation.
Recently the tide of calls to "code" seems to have subsided. If it's no longer a pressing social problem, I regret being late with my excellent solution.
Like all brilliant ideas, my solution is simple, and I was surprised by not seeing it proposed in the voluminous discussions of the topic. I apologize to those who've proposed the same thing earlier without me noticing for not giving them proper credit.

The problem

For a long time now, people have been voicing a concern about a supposed shortage of computer programmers. Many also express narrower concerns, such as a shortage of children, women or people with a certain skin color in the ranks of computer programmers.

A high-profile example is US President Barack Obama. This US President went further than urging others to "code" and regretted not being able to do so himself: "I wanted to go in and fix <healthcare.gov> myself, but I don't write code."

(I understand President Obama. I once wanted to go in and fix international politics. Then I realized that I don't shoot bullets.)

People from technology companies have also urged others to learn programming – for example, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.

Finally, individuals such as NBA star Chris Bosh encouraged people to learn to code in their private capacity.

Even this humble blogger was asked to give an interview by someone interested to encourage people in general and women in particular to code! And you know why? Surprisingly, because of a piece I wrote where I told that it was money that attracted me to programming, and it is money that keeps me in programming.

It was then when a solution to the problem at hand popped to my mind.

A possible solution

If there's a shortage of programmers, we could pay programmers more money.

How can this be arranged, and how would it solve the problem? There are several possibilities.

For example, companies such as Google, Apple and Intel could raise wages, causing some people to choose programming over other occupations. Once a sufficient amount of people are attracted to programming, wages would fall.

Alternatively, governments such as that headed by Barack Obama could lower programmers' income tax, or introduce a negative tax for programming. Again rising wages would attract more people to programming. A government convinced that the number of programmers reached a high enough level could then cancel the subsidy.

Finally, concerned individuals such as the wealthy basketball player Chris Bosh could donate money to computer programmers until enough people are attracted to the profession.

Having outlined a solution to the general problem, we now direct our attention to the narrower concerns of representation of particular groups of people in computer programming.

Discrimination affirmative action

Companies could increase the representation of younger people in programming by paying extra money to programmers below a certain age.

Similarly, governments could give tax breaks to younger programmers, or to parents of children who regularly submit their code for review by public officials.

Finally, a trust fund could be set up paying children to learn to program.

A similar approach should in principle be applicable to the problems of increasing the representation of women, people of particular races or other groups.

In some cases, questions of legality arise; for instance, while a trust fund for the benefit of people of one race but not others is probably legal, for-profit companies and governments might not be able to legally discriminate based on race.

However, this problem could be overcome, either by changing the laws or by setting aside a sum of money equal in size to the discriminatory subsidy paid to the members of the group in question. Once enough people from that group enter the programming profession, that sum of money can be divided between working programmers not belonging to the group, in effect undoing the discrimination.

Or something along these lines.

Conclusion

If this strikes you as absurd, does it strike you as even more absurd that people claim something to be a problem when its "solution" is as obvious as it is ridiculous? (Or is it really that ridiculous? Farm subsidies exist. Why not FarmVille subsidies?)

If people don't "learn to code", maybe the option is insufficiently attractive to those who can, given current wages, lifetime employment prospects, and the complete uselessness of the skill outside work.¹

If companies don't raise wages, maybe they don't feel a very pressing need for more programmers. (Of course they'd still "encourage" people to program – as long as the cost of encouragement is likely to be offset by a fall of wages, once a surplus of programmers results from the encouragement.)