From the thoroughly brain charging article Coding for Success by Andy Young
Many people may disagree that learning to code is for all or should be compulsory. “Why bother?” they may say – “We don’t need that many coders, most wouldn’t use the skills – it’s not that useful.” But it’s critical to understand what learning to code is not. Learning to code is not learning C++, or Ruby, or HTML. Learning to code is not learning architecture, or security, or memory allocation. Learning to code is not training to be a professional programmer.
Learning to code is learning to use logic and reason, and express your intent in a consistent, understandable, repeatable way. Learning to code is learning to get under the skin of a problem and reduce it to it’s simplest form. Learning to code is learning to harness power external to yourself and provide instructions to realise your ideas – whether that be directly to a computer, to delegate to one or more professional programmers or even a human team that work for and with you in any dicipline. Learning to code is ultimately a fantastic way to gain a multitude of transferrable skills.
Published in The Kernel, January 23rd, 2012