I don't think programming per se is hype, it's very useful. OTOH, I don't agree that everyone should learn to program -- that's taking it a bit too far.

But everyone should learn to get into details (you are forced to do this if you program), about the data that you need to deal with on a daily basis. And also be aware of all the tools and technology out there. That's because data, computers and software are here to stay, and are indeed the future. Very few jobs will have nothing to do with computers so everyone better learn how to make the best out of computers.

I think programming should be taught to all students in school, alongside other fundamentals like reading, writing and maths.

Even if they don't go on to work with code again, they should have a fundamental understanding about how the world around them works - and since so much of that is driven by software, it should be demystified.

People generally complain that you should only learn coding later on if you are going to work in that field. Because we're all mathematicians, writers, chemists and biologists? Not how it works.

I think it's actually "underhyped". I think if you set aside specialists of all kinds, sooner or later it will become a basic skill that you need to function in our world, probably very much like it happened to reading and writing 300 years ago. I think no matter what the children who are born now want to become, whether that is medicin, marketing, science or banker, programming skills will be just as "basic" as the ability to read and write.

It will take another couple of decades until public schools will understand and act on this, but kids not learning this stuff today, they will be second best in almost any field they want to go into.

I am not going to answer this question from company or future point of view. Of course, never read all that marketing bs and learn whatever you want. Become whoever you dream.

Nevertheless, programming is an essential skill which should be taught from early ages like writing and reading. In the future it will be the criteria to call a person educated. Everyone was learning many topics at school but you don't use most of them now. School should give a broad knowledge and show as many ways as possible.

Everyone should learn programming because:

• It improves memoery and prevents some deseases
• It trains brain to think
• It trains brain to make decisions
• It trains brain to understand risks and tradeoffs
• It shows how to apply "boring" topics from school like math and physics in real life. If a teacher or a professor can't explain how his lesson will help in real life, then he will fail. You are not buying smartphones because of it's name or marketing. You are buying it only because you know what exactly you will do with it, right?
• To understand how your computer or phone works and learn security aspects, protect own personal information, fix "my PC is running slowly" problems and do not download viruses every week.
• To learn how to build great presentations, spreadsheets and documents, how to use cloud and popular services like Google Drive and all with correct styling and formatting, and not that parody with inline styling, manual numbering, etc. I keep seeing even those who call themselves "managers" but can't write a single document...
• To be able to write simple scripts to improve your productivity or at least to learn many tricks and shorcuts. I've seen someone sitting in front of Windows 10 who was looking for a calculator on the table, at the end openned a calculator on the phone while all what was needed was to press Win+R, type "calc" and press Enter...

I am not saying everyone should be learning software engineering. Not everyone wants to be a geographer, but everyone learns geography because everyone still is a small geographer himself and should know how this world looks like, be able to read maps, etc.

Well I come from a gray history on that kind of path, should everyone learn how to speak english and write it? Coding is becoming more and more part of our days, it's impossible for a single person to not interact with something that has code in it. Does that means everyone should know how to code.... well yes and no; like @mgiambanco said learning the basics will help anyone to solve problems in an efficient way but apart from that I do think that some careers or jobs should learn to code in a more advanced way than just basics. Let me elaborate that:

I'm a Digital Artist and when I was a student I worked on video editing, VFX, game developing, motion graphics, animation, photography, etc etc. I decided to focus on code, specially on Front-End. I think that people that do animation, works with excel, do VFX, motion graphics, 3d, etc SHOULD or MUST learn beyond the basics of programming... why? Because they will make more natural animations, easy ones, and use expressions to make their life easier. I once helped a motion grapher to write a simple Javascript expression on After Effects, he wanted to make a light shine in a random way and to move randomly I helped him and in less than 5 minutes I solve a problem that he had been working for almost three to five hours that day.

So yeah, some jobs, careers or people specially the ones that work with technology should learn to code but a dentist, medic, driver, should not learn to code... and if you don't have a career or something strong to make of a living then YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD LEARN TO CODE it could save your life.

Sorry but that's a dumb statement. Don't take it personal, but programming is becoming ever more relevant as everything that is digitalized needs a program to back it up and everything is essentially being digitalized at the moment. It's an unlimited growth market.

I agree that these statements are hyped. Compare it to "don't learn to build a house". Someone needs to know how to do it, but not everyone :-)

I guess the bottom line is that you don't need to be a programmer to handle IT software as long as you don't develop them. Having a basic understanding what's possible is a good idea though, again like with houses, it's not too smart to promise to build a hovering house because you have no idea about the build process.

Yes, learning to code is important in the same way that literacy (learning to read) and numeracy (learning to use numbers) equip you mentally with methods to communicate ideas, model problems, and find solutions you don't already know.

In precisely the same way, code is a higher form of literacy where you can learn to write with language and math together, and even the very language you write in can be mutated and the rules changed as you go along.

The computer is the first meta-medium we have ever had as humans, and the art we can create with it is beyond what we can do with any other form of media.

The key is to use the computer as an extension of your own brain, instead of using software! Just in the same way as eating fast food is not the same as the act of cooking a dinner, there's a huge difference between using software written by others and writing your own code. You need to find a way to express the problem in your mind in a language humans and machines can understand, and then the machine can be used as extra brainpower for you.

As long as you are using software written by somebody else, you're borrowing and using somebody else's ideas.

So yes, I would strongly urge all people to get code literate - just like there's no industry where it would be advantageous to be illiterate, there's no industry where being code illiterate will give you a boost, especially as more of your peers find themselves able to harness the power of a computer to help solve their problems.

Or, to put it another way: The computer revolution hasn't happened yet - it happens in individuals the moment they become enlightened to how they can use a computer to solve their own problems. The computer revolution is ongoing, converting people one at a time, and it brings hope and power to those who have gone through the it because it equips them with more tools to navigate their world.

Has the computer revolution happened to you?

EDIT: I went to school for graphic design, and don't come from a computer science background at all, but based on my experience I would urge all of you to get code literate! A whole new world of hope and possibilities awaits you :)

Let's hope it isn't a hype because, if it dies out, we can say goodbye to the internet and all the applications that have made our life easier for the past decades. And that's just for starters.

That said, I fall firmly in the "don't learn to code" camp. There's already enough bad code as it is without adding even more from people who haven't learned or been taught properly.

Today there can be over a thousand different languages and a lot of platforms or hardware people can program on. So if you want to have the power of tough electronic products, surely you have to learn to program, or you have to ask another person for help. Or, you buy a product like Siri or Cortana to finish some of the tasks for you.

Just as it is told in the second link:

But the picture is more complicated.

I would suggest you learning Programming, as a programmer. You should know it for many reasons. But nobody is sure about the future, the jobs people would get, and the skills they would need. It's always, "not sure".

I think hype is the wrong word.

It's ok to learn the basics of logic and how programming works. If / Then / Else, For, While, etc... Those will help you in being a logical thinker and with programs like Excel.

It's not ok when people think programming is easy and everyone can do it. It takes years of experience to write good code.

I also won't / don't consider someone that just installs plugins and templates to be considered a programmer. Someone that setups a Wordpress site, installs a template, installs a few plugins < not a programmer.

Programmers come up with answers to problems. Like writing a book, we take our language of choice and mold it into something that tells a compelling story. There are great books out there and there are crappy ones as well.

The "everyone should learn to code" movement pisses me off because should everyone learn to be a doctor? No. Should everyone work on their own cars? No. I wouldn't want to see a dentist that got into dentistry because dad told them to. I want a dentist who's passionate about what they do; is looking out for my best interest and knows what they're doing. I'd want to hire a programmer that is the same. Not someone that does it because the money is good or it's "cool" to be a programmer now. I want someone who lives it, enjoys it and knows what they are doing.

If you want to learn it; great! You might be one of us. But to try to force people into it because we're moving to a software driven world and we'll need programmers is ridiculous. The world needs all kinds of people. From garbage collectors to accountants. From biologists to geologists. We need good code more then we need crappy, insecure code. We need good doctors, not ones that kill people. We need good mechanics, not ones that forget to tighten a bolt that causes an accident.

Programming per se is not a hype but the way it's emphasized seems to be a hype to me.

Is it useful? Yes, very! is it more important than a teacher or a nanny or a nurse just because you can earn more money or because we like to outsource labor to countries with cheaper workers and need to keep the specialization so we still can hold our grip at least in the hi-tech area?

I think it's a political thing the big companies want you to program because they don't get "enough" qualified workers (although statistically enough people graduate in CS but don't wanna program) since it's a billion dollar business the state wants to have the taxes so it tries to promote it.

To me, it's like the regular "outbreak" of a freakish sickness in Africa / South America / Germany / Asia. It's basically setting the public opinion to "it's important" so it gets more funding.

I don't think programming is "just a hype". Nearly anything you use today has software onboard. Your car, your watch, your scale, your fridge, your light bulb, etc. Everything just for your convenience. Since people are lazy and like convenience and cool features, digital stuff with software is a necessity. This implicates that programming is a necessity because the software does not emerge from thin air.

We see a trend of digitalization. Everything has to be flashy and connected and bring in extravagant features as a sales argument.

I think, the world is moving into a digital age. That's not a hype, that's how the world rolls. For that movement, we need new hardware and more flexible and dynamic logic. We need software. We need more and more software. As a result, we need more programmers. Teaching people how to program and telling everyone they should learn is a means to make sure we have people who are interested in establishing that kind of new world and have the abilities to contribute. I mean, programmers have always been seen as nerds, the guys who sit in the cellar doing their thing. They don't have friends, they are pale and they are boring. At least, when I was young and watched TV, that's the image I perceived. So the industry wants to change that image in order to move forward.

Many people learn to program, even though they don't need it in their daily lives. Many don't even want to program as a hobby. But believe me, no matter what we are talking about, there will always be people who get things wrong or do unnecessary stuff. I learned an instrument because everyone told me that it's important to be able to read and make music. Is it a hype? I don't think so. Do I need it? No. Do I still play? Sometimes. I am able to play the piano, nevertheless. There are people who earn their living by playing an instrument, with new rock bands forming every day. Would anyone call it a hype? I wouldn't.