Tanmay Bakshi, 13, is not the average kid you are likely to come across. He was first drawn to programming languages when he was five – in fact, he often wondered how his name could appear on his dad’s computer screen. In an interview, he speaks on how he got into coding and more...
Q. What advice would you give to teenagers interested in coding?
First, you need to get your toes wet, experience coding, and if you like it, you should continue learning how to code. Remember, you need to start small, be playful, and of course, learn consistently. It teaches you problem solving skills and strategies. Once you get to start, you need to be perseverant. Remember, it’s always good to share your work with others The magic of coding struck me very early. Fortunately, my parents supported me in getting better at it. I kept looking for answers to my questions. That allowed me to learn and understand new concepts better.
Q. Why should young people get involved with coding?
To begin with, technology has become an integral part of our lives, and in the future, our dependence on computers will grow exponentially. No matter what age you are, you have some technological interface on a daily basis. Our youth need to be prepared for their future, a future in which not just regular technology, but also smart technology is going to be a huge part of their lives. We need them to speak the language of the machines they use every day, that is, code. However, coding should be introduced at an earlier stage for students, so that those who have a passion for it, can pick up the skills and start making a difference.
Q. Should coding be taught as a school subject?
Yes , I strongly believe that coding should be taught as a school subject; the good news is that it’s being taught in many schools already. I know that such initiatives are already underway. In fact, a big part of my recent keynote address at the BCTECH Summit (tech innovations summit) was about how the Canadian government is implementing coding as a part of school curriculum in British Columbia. Similarly, during my STEM talks (conversations with some of the most interesting people in the world of science and technology) at the Bentonville High School in Arkansas, US, I realised that coding was a big part of their regular school studies.
Q. What advances in technology will impact our lives the most in future?
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cognitive, along with mobile computing and IoT (internet of things - it is the inter-networking of physical devices, vehicles) advances are the prime fields that will impact our lives.
Q. You have spoken at a coders’ conference in Bengaluru. Can you tell us about it?
My experience at IBM DeveloperConnect 2016 in Bengaluru, was amazing. Great people – programmers, organisers, and teams. I enjoyed my keynote address to 10,000 developers at IBM DeveloperConnect 2016, where I presented my revised version of algorithm and app—’AskTanmay’, the world’s first web-based NLQA (natural language question answering) system to be powered by IBM Watson (a cognitive system enabling a new partnership between people and computers). It was a great experience visiting and presenting at two IBM offices in Bengaluru.
Q. Tell us about the app that you created?
In the past, I have made many apps for the iOS App store. I wrote a book, ‘Hello Swift’, and for my YouTube channel, “tanmay teaches”. The app that brought me to Bengaluru was ‘AskTanmay’. It can take your personal, organisational and location questions and get you the answer from the web, using a search engine, such as Google. This algorithm uses an eight-step process to answer your question, classify it one of three types of questions, search the documents from a search engine, filter, refine and gives you the answer to your question.
Q. What is your future endeavor? What are you presently working on?
I am currently working on building algorithms in the fields of banking, healthcare, and forecasts.
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Coding refers to giving a set of instructions to a computer in a language that it can understand, to do something for you. I started to code when I was five, I really enjoyed it, and it soon became my passion. It was fun for me, specially because for a long time, I never knew that for many, coding is a job. Initially, I coded apps for fun, like apps to help me with my timetable. When I was nine, I published my first iOS app, called tTables, on the App Store, so that everyone could use and benefit from it