The Advancement of "Industrial Informatization" and "Information Industrialization"

Currently, digitalization is advancing across all industrial sectors.

To borrow the words of consultant Junichi Ikeda, we can say that "the informatization of industries" and "the industrialization of information" are advancing in every field: media, healthcare, finance, fashion, agriculture, telecommunications, politics, and even the advertising industry where we work.

Visit any bookstore today, and you'll find numerous publications predicting a future where artificial intelligence replaces human skills and takes away many people's jobs—books that read like science fiction. AI-powered services are already emerging everywhere.

Consequently, the ability to write programs that underpin these technologies will naturally become increasingly sought after all over the world.

Indeed, former U.S. President Obama consistently emphasized the importance of programming education for children, while Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong drew attention by publicly sharing a program he wrote himself on Facebook. Within Japan, programming has been a mandatory part of the technology section in the "Technology and Home Economics" subject for junior high schools since 2012.

Is programming merely a technology for information processing?

I believe the importance of programming is now universally recognized worldwide. But will writing programs remain merely a means, merely a technology, for developing industries and increasing efficiency in the future?

I don't think so.

I believe programming holds significant potential from an educational perspective as well.

As the term "programming language" suggests, I believe programming possesses characteristics that define the "way of thinking" and "behavior" humans adopt when interacting with information, serving as a means of communication.

Just as Japanese influences us Japanese people with Japanese ways of thinking and behavioral norms, I believe programming languages also form the basis for building a programmer's work ethic. They also shape the behavioral norm that efficiently processing work is inherently good.

It's often said that many game company executives are former programmers. I believe their ability to combine exceptional creativity with rationality as managers stems from their habit of writing code. To put it dramatically, programming might be a philosophy.

The book I'm introducing today, "The Fastest Way to Work: What Programmers Know" by Ryo Shimizu (Cross Media Publishing), precisely explains the value that learning a programming language brings to one's way of thinking and behavior. Shimizu is the Representative Director and CEO of Ubiquitous Entertainment Inc. During his university years, he was involved in developing Microsoft's home video game consoles and researching/teaching technological trends. He was also recognized as a Genius Programmer/Super Creator by the Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA).

The key point of this book is that it is not a typical "introduction to programming" manual. Instead, it guides readers in work methodologies and approaches using programmer metaphors and a programmer's perspective.

Symbolizing this, the opening of Chapter 1 quotes the late Steve Jobs:

I think every American should learn computer programming. Because learning a computer language teaches you how to think. (P.14)

Programmer Work Techniques

True to a programmer's style, this book introduces fast, waste-free, and simple work techniques. It starts with life hack-style tips immediately applicable to a businessperson's daily tasks, such as using dictionary registration and taking meeting minutes. It then covers smart planning methods to prevent critical mistakes, mechanisms to maximize team results, and even how to design business processes. It explains efficient work approaches using metaphors drawn from actual programming concepts like "multithreading" and "speculative execution."

Personally, I found the section on "speculative execution" particularly fascinating as a mindset for anticipating the future and a way of thinking when taking risks.

If a good program executes the most efficient processing method during information handling, then I think the idea is to apply that same thinking to information processing in actual business.

Pride and Responsibility as a Programmer

Throughout this book, Mr. Shimizu consistently conveys the rational thinking underlying programming languages and its practical application in work, while also articulating the appeal of programming and the allure and responsibility of living as a programmer.

The words he spoke in the executive boardroom at Dentsu Inc., mentioned in the opening "Introduction," are particularly memorable.

Not knowing how to program is equivalent to not knowing how to use your brain (P.6)

This statement succinctly expresses the pride programmers take in their work and simultaneously embodies the professionalism of taking responsibility for one's own code.

Getting your hands dirty, owning bugs, striving for speed. Even just realizing that extraordinary passion flows through the seemingly "mechanical" and cold world of programming makes this a fascinating book.

It's packed with ideas you can put into practice starting tomorrow. Even if you think programming has nothing to do with you, there seems to be a lot to learn from programmers.