In regions like Hokuriku, where age-old traditions and deeply rooted local values still thrive, strong community pressure—the unspoken atmosphere of the place—often makes change difficult.

 

While such resistance to change (or the tendency for things not to change easily) helps preserve culture and tradition, on the other hand, an overly heavy atmosphere can hinder the development of individuals’ ability to think for themselves and live according to their own beliefs.

 

Daily life has been rapidly changing in recent years, especially due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The transformation brought by AI (artificial intelligence) is also expected to grow steadily in the coming years.

 

To successfully adapt to this era of change, it will be increasingly important for people living in regions like Hokuriku to acquire the skill of thinking for themselves and the flexibility to break away from precedent. Of course, the ability to endure and quietly follow others can also be seen as a beautiful virtue.

 

In this two-part series, we will explore the art of thinking. In the first part, we focus on programming thinking, and in the second part, design thinking.

 

Programming thinking is already being introduced in school curricula, as many news reports have noted. So, we visited an elementary school offering programming classes to find out what exactly programming thinking is, and why it is considered important.

 

If you’re someone who instinctively feels hesitant the moment you see or hear the word programming, don’t worry.

 

This article is not about programming languages or technical skills. Rather, it focuses on the mindset behind programming—what we call programming thinking.

 

The interview and article are by Yasushi Takei, Web Development Director at Hokuroku. In other words, this is programming thinking as told by a real programmer.

 

Masayoshi Sakamoto
Editor-in-Chief of Hokuroku

 

 

Related: Design Thinking: Breaking Through Conformity Pressure with Thinking Skills in Hokuriku