I am a mechanical engineering student in my second year of college. I have understood from my interactions with peers and seniors that programming knowledge is imperative to bagging a good job no matter the stream. But I am confused about which programming language is a must-have so that I can channelise my energy in the right direction. Moreover, I need it to be relevant even two years down the line. - Rajat 

Coding or software development should be treated as one of the key skills to be imparted at schools or colleges. Just like the way mathematics and basic sciences are taught in schools and the first year of engineering in Indian colleges, the school curriculum should support formal teaching of coding and fundamentals of programming. With automation and technology adoption across business lines and functions, it is growingly becoming important that every professional should have a basic understanding of how technology works.

In today’s digital-first world, individuals should pick up any one of the popular programming languages and get used to coding, and solving some basic problems. Writing code also helps individuals to build and hone their problem-solving capabilities. Besides coding, it would be good to pick up networking and the fundamentals of how operating systems work. 

Technology evolves rapidly, making it not possible to predict the skill that will remain hot a few years down the line. It is advisable to choose any programming language and learn the fundamentals of software development. 

(The writer is Chief Operating Officer, HirePro.)