Coding as Basic Literacy

Basic mathematics, personal finance and first-aid are things everyone should learn.Same thing for coding. It is unreasonable to ask everyone to write a compiler or anything on that scale, but I don't think that fizzbuzz is too much to ask. Computers are part of our everyday life now, and teaching the basics of coding early-on can help demystify them. I also think that like maths, it promotes a rigorous and logical way of thinking that can be useful in other fields.

Nobody needs to learn how to code, any more than they need to learn contract law, or organic chemistry, or welding, or music composition.People talk about code "literacy" as though it's the 21st century equivalent to reading and writing, but this is crazy -- even as a programmer, I don't interact with any of my devices via code. Being a programmer doesn't help me troubleshoot Windows or get my printer working. I don't configure my apps on my iPhone using code; I

I honestly believe that programming should be considered a vital skill on par with reading and writing. I'm not saying everybody needs to be able to solve LeetCode or build production ready apps, but anybody who works with a computer could benefit from being able to do a little scripting. Programming is a skill that can be a foundation for thousands of different hobbies.Why do most adults know how to read and do basic math? Because we consider these to the important enough to teach them

Programming is the most obvious one because it the one thing thats going to allow the individual to interface with civics, economics, excercise, biology, history, math, science and english in a structure manner. That doesn't mean you are not going to play tennis. It doesn't mean you only have to do code. But to understand just the basics is many many many times more useful for the individual than you seem to be suggesting.You literally can't find a more versatile tool for that.

Disagree with this. As a 26 year software developer, it's been fascinating to see just how many of my peers in non-software industries are now interested in learning to code because it's useful for their jobs. Coding allows you to talk to machines, and machines are everywhere in modern society.Here in the UK, basic coding is now taught in schools (from primary school!). And I think this makes sense. Not everybody's going to be an expert. But the basics are incredibly useful, ju

I'm sure that's how basic math proficiency was viewed in the past. These days almost everyone would benefit from some rudimentary knowledge of programming, but it's not yet viewed as essential. Every day I see people doing repetitive manual tasks on the computer that could be automated with just a tiny amount of basic shell scripting. How long before this is taught to all kids in primary school, and facing many of the same problems as math today?

A lot of school kids don't even have basic math or writing skills. I see the geek appeal of everyone learning to code, but it's really not practical. There are far greater concerns. I think a personal living class should be required. Kids don't know anything about opening a bank account, loans, renting an apartment, etc.

This is attacking a strawman, as someone who will enthusiastically promote coding in schools and who try to teach my kids coding, my idea has never been that everybody needs to become a software developer.To me learning coding is like learning math or history. It is an essential skill for modern society even if our primary job is not necessarily centered on those skills.I believe done right, programming is a good way for many to understand many concepts in mathematics better. Many fields w

I think most of you are taking the post too literally. He is going against the rising trend of post implying "EVERYONE SHOULD CODE, IT'S GREAT, YOU WOULD BE CRAZY NOT TO, ITS SO EASY". It almost sounds like an infomercial. Of course anyone who is interested should learn how to code. Anyone interested should learn a bit about plumbing. And about home wiring, and car repair, and...the list goes on. No matter what skill level you actually end up achieving if you are interested in coding go for it.

You seem to be a bit disconnected from reality. If I told any one of my friends who are not programmers by trade to look for code samples, they would either not understand what I'm talking about, or simply not know where to look.Most people don't even have the slightest idea what kind of problems software can solve. Jeff Atwood seems to interpret "learn to code" as "learn to set the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH variable". Others—myself included—think that having at least a bit of exposure to programming