Computers are built by people for the use of people. A Computer is a very generic tool; it can be used for an unimaginable range of tasks. It takes a program to make it useful to someone. In other words, a computer is just a piece of hardware until someone -- some programmer -- writes code for it to do something useful. We often forget about the software. Even more often, we forget about the programmer.

Hollywood and similar "popular culture" sources of disinformation have assigned largely negative images to programmers. For example, we have all seen the solitary, fat, ugly nerd with no social skills who is obsessed with video games and breaking into other people's computers. He (almost always a male) is as likely to want to destroy the world as he is to want to save it. Obviously, milder version of such caricatures exist in real life, but in our experience they are no more frequent among software developers than they are among lawyers, police officers, car salesmen, journalists, artists, or politicians.

The myth of a programmer being isolated is just that: a myth. People who like to work on their own choose areas of work where that is most feasible an usually complain bitterly about the number of "interruptions" and meetings. People who prefer to interact with other people to have an easier time because modern software development is a team activity. The implication is that social and communication skills are essential and valued far more than the stereotypes indicate. On a short list of highly desirable skills for a programmer (however you realistically define programmer), you find the ability to communicate well -- with people from a wide variety of backgrounds -- informally, in meetings, in writing, and in formal presentations.

Programmers do not spend their rest of their working life writing code. Even the best programmers, spend most of their time not writing code. Understanding problems and take serious time and often requires significant intellectual effort. That intellectual challenge is what many programmers refer to when they say that programming is interesting. Many of the best programmers also have degrees in subjects not usually considered part of computer science. A person with an "all I care about is computers and programming" attitude will be incapable of interacting with his or her non-programmer colleagues. Such a person will not only miss out the best parts of human interactions but also be a pad software developer.

Programming is an intellectually challenging set of skills that are part of many important and interesting technical disciplines. In addition, programming is an essential part of our world, so not knowing the basics of programming is like not knowing the basics of physics, history, biology, or literature. Someone totally ignorant of programming is reduced to believing in magic and is dangerous in many technical roles.