I am taking the leap - Code vs NoCode
I have been dabbling with the idea of learning how to code for about ten years now.
TEN
LONG
YEARS
Somehow, my mind keeps thinking that it would "distract me from the big picture" or that "I will forget what I have achieved up until now" (an ecommerce brand and I considered myself pretty versed on digital marketing).
When I was a child, I dreamt about becoming an inventor. Being able to create something that can make other people lives easier completely fascinates me.
And coding was the most similar thing to "the superpower of creating" that one could get.
When I was 14 years old, I was decided: I wanted to studied CS. But somewhere about the line (indeed I know exactly when - but that's another story not pleasant to tell), things got messy, and I decided drop CS after only one year and moved to Barcelona to get far from my life.
I studied BA, was offered a place on "Bocconi University" to specialize in Finance, and ended up working in M&A for Deloitte.
Obviously that was not my place, so I quit.
Now, about ten years after the day I quit, I am taking the leap of going back and do what I should have done at the begining: pursuing what makes me feel happy. And that is CREATING.
So...I just (like...10 minutes ago) bought a fly to Bali and booked a place with good internet and AC for 2 months and a half. I am taking a 75 days period to find my real self, learn new skills (coding? no-coding?...still to be decided after reading a couple of good IH posts!) and think about the life I really want.
I love my brand (hanek.com), but I want to get into more techy startups (saas?), and I think coding will really help me find my way on that field.
Or maybe not.
But at least I know I will enjoy the ride.
I would REALLY appreciate some IH support here 🙏🏻
Did you change your path after your 30s? (I am 36 now!)
Do you think coding is a valuable skill to have in the IH path?
...or would you recommend no-coding instead?
Please, shot your best advise!
Coding offers a better control over the piece you're creating. I consider No-code is go to if you want to enter the market ASAP. If you're planning to get investment, who will lookout for traction its better to create one with No-code tools and later build the product with more power with code. Yet coding is not going anywhere as said by @manuelwill and having a knowledge over coding is always a upper hand.
In short:
No code can be a great tool for prototyping and getting an MVP into the hands of users as fast as possible so you can validate your ideas and fail fast, without over-investing your time. Definitely do this, I've made the mistake of over-investing my time when simple wire-frames or an interactive demo in the hands of potential users for contextual interviews would have done the trick.
If you validate an idea and find yourself wanting to carry it into a real product no-code might take you a little further but will probably hold you back at scale.
From what I've seen of many no-code products, they only really remove the syntax aspect of programming, concepts such as logic (discrete-mathematics), control-flow, testing and more are still present and are all still things your should know if you want to build a robust and stable product.
Start with no-code tools. If you go far and deep enough, you will inevitably start hitting brick walls again and again. That's when you should start to learn code. The problems will lay before you and you will therefore have enough motivation and practical problems to tackle with code.
All the no-code hype aside, coding won't be going away any time soon. I'm learning JS myself right now, after building stuff for 10 yrs in and out of companies. It's about time! Let's go :)
Go learn to code. Even if it doesn't help in any way, you'll never have any doubts or regrets about what life would have been like.