ABCs and 123s—letters and numbers are some of the first things we learn—even before we enter school. We’re taught to recognize, memorize, understand, and eventually manipulate them to communicate and persuade. These characters reveal their greatest value when we’re able to use them as the foundation for something greater, that not only moves individuals forward, but entire communities, businesses, and societies.
Simple letters and numbers underpin some of the greatest technology innovations of the last decade (and those that have yet to come)—often in the form of software code. And yet, when manipulated for coding, these familiar characters take on a new level of complexity that only a few specially trained people understand. Most application development today still requires people to learn archaic languages that only a small minority understand—to think the way machines think.
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