Inside London's coding workshops and why it's just like solving a puzzle

New workshops are disrupting tech by teaching novices how to code. Katie Strick joins a class
Attendees pictured at a recent coding event at Google Academy London

"At the end of the day ... it’s just ducks”, laughs my instructor, Rikesh, leaning over my laptop as I struggle through level four of a retro Snake-like game at Google Academy London’s shiny offices in Victoria.

He must have seen the look on my face as I hammered in lines of script in a bid to get my red cartoon duck to hit its yellow on-screen feathered friend. It turns out coding can actually be quite fun, especially if you’re a natural pro like Diana next to me. She’s already reached level nine.

My fellow (aspiring) web developers and I are just 90 minutes into our coding workshop and already we’re talking like characters straight out of The Social Network, comparing loops (sequences of instructions) and discussing the benefits of HTML versus JavaScript (coding languages). This pond-themed game is just the warm-up: after lunch, we learn how to build a website.

Workshops like this are all about boosting confidence, says Anna Brailsford, a board member at the Institute of Coding and newly appointed CEO of social enterprise Code First: Girls (CFG). She's here to speak at the beginning of three days of free workshops by Google Digital Garage in honour of National Coding Week, which started on Monday.

It’s all part of her mission to break the tech industry free of its “boys’ club” stereotype. Since launching in 2013, the award-winning Code First: Girls has taught more than 10,000 women for free and Brailsford, 33, wants to double this by the end of next year. “The biggest misconception is that coders are men,” she tells me in her nude-pink killer heels, perched on a bright orange sofa next to Google’s third-floor beach zone. “The second is that coders are complete geeks that lack social skills, stay up all night and scurry from under a rock.”

Naturally, that’s far from the reality. Brailsford studied English literature for her degree — she previously worked as commercial director of Lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning) without any training in computer science — and today’s workshop is a diverse mix of baseball-cap wearing entrepreneurs in “Dream, believe, do, repeat!” tees, retired businessmen, and glam gym bunnies with Huel shakes perched next to their laptops.

Nivi, to my right, is an engineering student in her twenties; Diana on my left recently quit her job of eight years to start a postgrad in interaction design. “We’ve had women here breastfeeding before,” one instructor tells me. “Baby in one hand, typing in the other.”

Anna Brailsford, CEO of Code First: Girls at the recent coding event at Google Academy London 
Daniel Hambury/@stellapicsltd

This is exactly Brailsford’s mission: not just to attract young women (and men), but those of any age, whether they fancy a career change or adding another skill to their tool belt.

You don’t need a computer science degree (many of CFG’s most successful alumni came from arts backgrounds) — all you need is a laptop and a passion for problem-solving. Nivi insists coding is “just like a puzzle”. Not only does Brailsford want to diversify the people getting into coding, she wants to diversify what they go on to do with it.

Rikesh shows us a video about coding for self-driving cars, but jobs in web and software development aren’t the only reasons to sign up for training: CFG’s alumni include Ngozi Ossai, founder of award-winning afro hair brand Gozi Haircare, and Caroline Wood, co-founder of sustainable fashion brand Clotho London. Plus coding is essential if you’re testing an app idea (“everyone has an app idea when they’re in the pub,” Brailsford laughs) or building a website for your best friend’s wedding.

The opportunities are lucrative, too: jobs in coding are in high demand and are generally higher paid — hiring a web developer can cost as much as £600 a day.

Naturally, you’re not going to become an expert in a day, Brailsford admits (she’s still learning) — but it’s a start.

By the end of CFG’s 16-hour Intro To Web Dev course you should be able to create the basics of a website, and you can continue the training at home: Rikesh, a former lawyer, taught himself on YouTube over the last 12 months and Brailsford’s next mission is to launch virtual courses so you can learn to code anywhere at any time — perfect if you’re still in a full-time job.

There’s hope for me yet in my grand plan to be headhunted by Google. After all, it’s just ducks

Coding workshops in London and beyond 

Career Karma
Launched in January and already has more than 35,000 coders in its community. The app pre-trains you for coding bootcamps, matches you with the right one and assigns you a personalised career coach to stay with you through the journey. Free for students.
careerkarma.com 

Flatiron
New York’s top coding school — where supermodel Karlie Kloss learned the skill — now has a campus in Moorgate. Alumni from there have gone on to work at Google, Apple, BlackRock and Nasa.
flatironschool.com

Makers Academy
Aims to turn you into a job-ready software developer in 12 weeks. The bootcamp includes practical coding challenges, weekly tests and a final project presented to hiring partners on “graduation day”.
makers.tech

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