Yes, everyone should learn to code.

I just read this article and I think the author shomewhat missed the point. Learning to code is useful in much the same way that learning basic math and science skills can be useful to someone who eventually spends all their time in the humanities. A knowledge of logic and the basic intuitions that result from learning basic programming skills have applicability far beyond the world of computer science.

The article lists a number of intents and behaviors that can be used to identify people who shouldn’t learn how to code and I think those are all seem like fine ways of idnetifying people who shouldn’t become professional programmers but the fact that I hated biology doesn’t mean it wasn’t something I shoudl have learned a bit of in my youth.

Everyone should learn to code at a basic level perhaps not as a separate subject in school, maybe part of a standard math course. It’s really unfortunate the number of kids out there who don’t even know what programming is and we need to fix that. While doing that we can also give them useful skills of an analytical thinking process that has broad applicability.