Don't Learn to Code. Learn to Think.

• Computer science is a new way of thinking. The concepts in it are useful for every single person in a technology-filled world.
• Programming is an essential part of learning computer science by applying the new way of thinking. However, by itself, programming is not nearly as general purpose.

Confusing these two concepts is causing problems for the learn-to-code movement. Slate published an article called Maybe Not Everybody Should Learn to Code; the Atlantic wrote Should Journalism Schools Require Reporters to 'Learn Code'? No; Jeff Atwood wrote Please Don't Learn To Code, where he asks a question that neatly summarizes the confusion:

"How [would] Michael Bloomberg be better at his day to day job of leading the largest city in the USA if he woke up one morning as a crack Java coder?"

This is, of course, the wrong question. It is the result of public campaigns that suggest that learning to code, as opposed to learning to think, is the end goal. If even Jeff Atwood, an experienced and respected programmer, is fooled by this distinction, then the average person has no chance of getting it right. The question we should be asking is:


Would Bloomberg - or anyone else - be better at their job if they improved their ability to think by learning new problem solving strategies and developing a better grasp of logic?
I think the answer here is obvious. As the world fills up with more and more technology, I think the answer becomes even more obvious. This is why we need to focus on teaching computer science and not just coding.

- More Here