Coding

Have you ever wondered how your favorite cartoon character knows when to jump and sing. Or how a tablet makes a happy little sound when you touch a picture. It's like a secret message, a special instruction that tells them what to do. I am that secret message. I whisper to computers and phones and tell them how to play games and show you movies. I am like a secret language for all the cool electronics you use every day. I am Coding.

I made my first friends a long, long time ago. One of my first friends was a man named Joseph Marie Jacquard. Around the year 1804, he used special cards with little holes in them to talk to a big machine. I helped him use those cards to tell the machine how to weave soft blankets with pretty pictures. Then, around 1843, I met a very smart lady named Ada Lovelace. She was the very first person to write a recipe for a computer using me. It was like writing down the steps to bake a yummy cake, but for a computer. Much later, in the 1950s, another wonderful friend, Grace Hopper, helped people talk to computers using simple words, not just numbers. She made me easier for everyone to use.

Today, I am everywhere. I am in the fun video games you play and the colorful cartoons you watch on TV. I help grown-ups do their jobs, and I even help big, shiny rockets zoom into space to visit the moon and stars. I am the special magic that turns your wonderful ideas into amazing things on a screen. I help you build, create, and play in a whole new way. I am always ready for a new adventure. What wonderful things will you build with me one day.