Enterprise native takes second in coding contest

Enterprise native Aaron Martin placed second and received $2,500 in the third annual Pearson Student Coding Contest.

Martin and his team were invited to create a learning application that worked with the company's Application Programming Interfaces.

According to a press release from Pearson, participants "were challenged to focus and integrate efficacy, a positive, measurable impact on learning, into the development of their applications."

Martin was one of the top three finalists invited to present his app, "ClassMap," to judges in Denver. The app allows a class to collaborate ideas in a type of map.

"Presenting in Denver was fun," Martin said. "The judges were kind and helpful in their feedback. I learned a lot about what to look for in future projects.

"The other two candidates were great. While we each wanted to win, there wasn't a lot of competitiveness. I hope to have the opportunity to work with them on future projects."

Coding has been the center of major discussions in recent years, with many advocating for the inclusion of coding in the classroom.

Martin said that coding could help those entering the workforce have an edge over their competitors.

"Everything is moving to a digital format," Martin said. "Just imagine how lost you would be without your cell phone. We can pay for things, get information and even board airplanes just by scanning our cell phones.

"As we learn to cram more and more of our everyday information into a digital format, computer scientists and programmers will become more important than they've ever been."

It may be easier than it seems to learn how to code, according to Martin.

"I feel anyone can learn the basics," Martin said. "There are so many great resources out today that can teach you the idea of programming without ever learning a programming language."