Should everyone learn how to code? Everyone walks around with computers in their pockets, but nobody knows what makes these devices tick. People don't know where software comes from anymore. When something has blinky lights and beepy sounds it's cool, but if it calculates the square root of pi in a 20 byte program it's... interesting I guess?

What are your opinions?

Well, everyone should at least know what a computer is and how it works. You probably don't need to know how to code for most people, but it should be encouraged, probably just for learning logic, much like how we have philosophy courses.

I don't feel like everyone has to be able code themselves, but at least know how it's done.

It it not the point to be able to code flawlessly or at all, but just understand the basic concept.
If everyone would do that I'll try to understand how engines work, how to play videogames, make out with girls(daily?), play music, manage a company finances and politics.

Quote from: Keoni29 on September 05, 2014, 05:59:50 pm

how to play videogames

This includes NBA Elite 2011, Custer's Revenge, E.T, SNES Super Hockey, Shaq Fu, Action 52, Call of Duty, that one horse riding game, bass fishing games, DDR, RPGs, platformers, everything (regardless of the quality and genre).

Keoni29 wasn't trying to say they should learn every language of programming. Just that they should have a basic sense of how programming works. So I think just a general knowledge, and a bit of experience with some different video games, would be considered comparable.

Oh I know that. But I was more saying that if everyone in the world should be required to learn the basics of coding regardless of if they hate computers and electronics, then it's kind of unfair when people aren't required to learn to do sports and forced to get a girlfriend.

Maths

I know some people who have a basic understanding of how computers work and they are interested in learning how to write programs for it. I am always glad to help these people get started. Sometimes they give up after a while, but some persist.

I didn't really learn how to code in high school (or at least not in the official lessons), bit I did got a few introductionary lessons in Game Maker (the drag&drop part, not the scripting part). I think that they should do this in every school. It isn't really programming, but at least it shows that it's not that hard to 'get computers to listen to you', while witouth it, programming is seen as something 'unobtainable' by many, because they don't have the slightest idea of how to start.

With the car engine example: you wouldn't learn how a full car engine works, but you would learn how basic bechanics works (gears and stuff, which they do teach at high schools)

People should have a basic idea of how computers work, even if it's just the idea that at their core computers just run a bunch of instructions in a sequence. I once had an internship to develop a website for a government organization, and I was basically seen as a wizard doing magic. It's kind of a shame.

Also to comment on DJ's earlier post (Tapatalk is horrible for quoting), I would actually like to see a modern resurgence of the "Athenian Man." Having basic competency in a large number of fields is very beneficial. Especially in cross-discipline fields like comp-sci.