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I've watched non-programmers get into the use of software tools for their jobs. From what I can tell, the main factor driving success is making the tools accessible, to the point where they don't have to be requested. This lowers the emotional barrier to entry. Folks don't have to justify it, and can use it for tasks that might even seem too trivial to discuss.

I believe part of the success of Excel was simply that it was installed on every computer. Engineering students learned Matlab because it was "free" for their use thanks to generous site licenses. In fact, Matlab was an early no-code tool in a sense, allowing students to do calculations without learning FORTRAN.

In my own workplace, a handful of people have gotten into using Python for trivial tasks because nobody could tell them No. They could even try it at home if they felt that it wasn't going to be approved at work.




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