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>Here’s the thing: if I were the type of person who would be good at coding ...

I don't like this sentiment. Programming (at least the basics, no monads here) is really simple, and the perception that it's difficult seems damaging. What can we as programmers do about this? I'm almost as dejected hearing people say programming is hard as hearing "oh I can't do math."

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But there certainly is a difference on how easy people pick up coding. This has a lot to do with attitude, but also how talented they are. As with all other skills, you're given a set of cards to play with.

But then again, practice beats talent any day of the week.

People say the same thing about poetry (at least the basics, no iambic pentameter here). Saying "I can't do math" is often a socially acceptable way of expressing the idea that it's not really interesting. It's particularly common for people under pressure to follow a STEM academic track...and that frees up the school schedule for classes in things like drama, creative writing and machine shop.

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