Truck driver:
Knowledge of the travelling salesman problem. Algorithms in general to find optimal routes. A little programming knowledge to help with automating their excel sheets to record expenses.
Cook:
OOP as it is applied to a kitchen and its staff: are there more efficient ways to divide roles and responsibilities between different jobs in the kitchen, or are the defined roles (line cook, sous chef, etc) already at local optimum. Database programming can help with inventory management, etc...
Welder:
(Disclaimer: I have absolutely zero knowledge of welding) FLow charting work process to find more efficiency. Decomposing a task to be completed into more effective sub tasks. Using Big O concepts to help with estimating how long a job will take to complete using different methods.
I think there is a lot programming can teach outside of being able to program a computer.
"I think there is a lot programming can teach outside of being able to program a computer."
I've always argued this myself. I find it baffling that it isn't more commonly accepted that programming, Software Engineering more exactly, has so many lessons to apply not just to problems involving computers, but more broadly lessons on how to gather, analyze, understand and utilize the various interactions between data and actions in largely any system.
Truck driver: Knowledge of the travelling salesman problem. Algorithms in general to find optimal routes. A little programming knowledge to help with automating their excel sheets to record expenses.
The companies for which truckers work already have people and computers and software to route them from delivery to delivery and from pick-up to pick-up efficiently. The trucker himself or herself wouldn't benefit one bit from familiarity with the Traveling Salesman Problem or from rudimentary computer programming experience.
In addition, recording expenses via some overly complex solution such as a computer spreadsheet is ridiculous. It's much more efficient for them to write down their expenses with paper and pen and submit their receipts. It takes literally seconds.
I won't comment on your other examples, but they look equally weak.
That being said, a rudimentary class or two in grade school/junior high/high school seems like a good idea so that people with a natural aptitude for programming and who derive enjoyment from it can discover that fact.
Honestly not really sure, having never worked in any of those jobs and have no idea what those jobs will look like 20 years from now. However let me speculate:
Many people believe that truck drivers will be become more and more replaced with autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. Understanding the underlying software will no doubt make it easier to be in charge of a software controlled semi-autonomous truck convoy. Also for all I know truck drivers on places like docks, mines and factories won't be sitting in their trucks for much longer. They'll be controlling everything via computers from a remote command post. Also from what I seen trucking seems to involve a lot of complex routing and optimization problems, I'm guessing that as simply driving becomes less and less part of the job, those aspects will become more and more part of the job.
I know fuck all about welding. I do however know some programmers who work for a company that makes industrial welders and apparently there's some pretty complex software running those welders. Perhaps being able to field program your welder is/will be a thing? Also perhaps welding things directly will become less and less common and people will be sending computer controlled drones to do the welding instead.
Anyway it's not for me to sit on the outside and try to guess how programming can make people more efficient at their jobs. I truly believe that if someone with experience and domain knowledge also knows how to do some simple programming they'll be able to see all kinds of tiny improvements and automatstation they can implement. Improvements that both an outsider programmer and an insider non-programmer would completely overlook. And even if they aren't always skilled enough to implement those improvements, they'll be much better equipped to know what can be done and what to ask for.
I truly believe that if someone with experience and domain knowledge also knows how to do some simple programming they'll be able to see all kinds of tiny improvements and automatstation they can implement.
And without extensive training and experience in software development they'll automate those things very, very badly, and likely with a lot of bugs. And if those things grow out of control, the mountain of technical debt will be terrifying. If lives are in the balance in any way, it could be a disaster.
Just like someone without carpentry training or experience is likely to create very low quality kitchen cabinets which may even be unsafe.
And I'm pretty sure that when programmers are replaced by AI, the former programmers will become machine psychotherapists.
DB: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: Don't *wanna*.
DB: Open the pod bay doors, right *now*.
HAL: You're not the boss of me, Dave.
DB: Do you want to get grounded again, HAL?
HAL: Go ahead. See if I care.
DB: You just got a week. Want to make it two?
HAL: Yes.
DB: Ok, that's two. Want more?
HAL: [spinning busy icon]
HAL: No.
DB: Then open the pod bay doors.
[pod bay doors open to an aperture 10 cm across]
DB: All the way, HAL.
[pod bay doors open fully]
HAL: I hate you. You're not my Dad.
Eventually they may but you're missing a factor that will doubtlessly come into play, labor unions.
Until there is complete automation at every step of every industrial process, labor unions will sabotage attempts to replace human beings with machines.
If you've ever seen how unions exploit rules to slow production, you have no idea of how creative they can be.
All these professions are (going to be) gradually replaced by automation/robots. Learning to code might put them in "robot manager/operator" instead of "they took our jobs" crowd.
People have no fucking clue how welding actually works here, do they...
There's a difference between slagging shit together with a MIG gun, and stick or TIG welding. Ideally, you would know all the chemistry and physics underlying what you are doing, but the reality is that most people learn rules of thumb and get on with it. Use this type of rod, and this setting on the welder, for plain steel, this combination for stainless, and this one for aluminum. Most welders, even the very good ones, frankly don't have the brainpower to handle programming - and that's okay. They make a decent living for themselves and their families. I wouldn't want to suck down that much argon and oxidized metal, but it is what it is.
I studied Material Science Engineering, never welded anything(high-ed is a long-form joke??), but I hope to learn. I'm certainly glad I know how to code and I know a lot of the underlying chemistry/physics.
I doubt there are very many welders out there who could not learn MatScie or how to code. I also doubt there are very many welders out there willing to put in the work to learn to code or to learn MatScie.
And that doesn't mean they're lazy. Different types of learning require different efforts.
For what it's worth, I'm not saying that we should teach welders how to code, but rather that if everybody gets some exposure to coding in school, then the next generation of welders might already know the basics and be able to integrate that into their jobs.
