I Used to Think Coding Was Only for Programmers
For a long time, I believed coding was only for people who studied computer science or worked as professional developers. Whenever I saw a screen filled with code, it looked like a completely different language. There were brackets, symbols, functions, and terms I did not understand. I assumed learning it would require years of study before I could create anything useful. That changed when I encountered a repetitive task at work. I was regularly copying information from a spreadsheet, checking each row, preparing an email, sending it, and updating the status manually. The work was manageable, but completing the same process repeatedly took time and left room for mistakes. I started wondering if the spreadsheet could do some of the work for me. That question led me to Google Apps Script. At first, I did not even know where to begin. I understood the result I wanted, but I did not know how to translate it into code. I could explain the process clearly to another person, but explaining it to a computer felt different. AI became my starting point. I described the task and asked it to create a script. Within seconds, it gave me several lines of code. I copied them, ran the script, and immediately received an error. My first reaction was frustration. I had expected the code to work because it looked complete. But I soon realized that generated code was not automatically working code. I went back and explained the error. AI suggested a change, so I tested it again. Another issue appeared. I repeated the process until the automation finally worked. The moment it worked, something changed in the way I viewed coding. I did not suddenly become a programmer, but I had created something useful. A task that previously required several manual steps could now happen automatically. I became curious about what else I could build. I started experimenting with confirmation emails, timestamps, form submissions, missing-data checks, and automatic reports. Each project introduced me to a