I do not think that everyone should learn to code. It is a great idea to give everyone the chance to learn to and about code but should not be required. Making it a required thing will just make many people hate it the same way they might hate a math or science class.
Learning to code helps develop a new way of thinking and problem solving. This is one of the arguments in favor of having CS4All. There is also an apparent lack of software developers in the current job market which will keep growing as companies have increasing needs for them with the supply increasing at a much slower rate. Now the problem that the program will be facing is an even worse one. Not only will it have a problem finding a hiring computer scientist since it will be competing with tech companies offering much higher salaries but also it will need to find computer scientist which have trained to be teachers. This like many other things will lead to mediocre teachers doing more harm than good by making their students hate a subject matter just because the way its being taught to them is bad.
The approach that the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, I think is the correct one. As describe in the article in the New York Times, computer science will not become a graduation requirement but will be an elective for middle and high school. This way you are not forcing a new course that can be quite difficult on children and do not bring more scheduling problems by having it be required. The course it self should teach some general programming logic like if-thens, while and for loops, etc. but also briefly go over things like operating systems and basic hardware. When I say operating systems I mean the fact that there are things besides Windows and OSX that can run on a machine. Also that the machines are all made up of basic parts meaning that any computer in theory can run any operating system it wants.
Like many other skills, anyone could learn to program but that does not mean that they should. Some people will be naturals and actually love to program which will make it easier for them like math or science is for some but others will have a hard time getting the way of thinking it requires. I for example never understood chemistry since I could never wrap my head around the way of thinking it require from me to follow along and naturally know how different chemicals might react with each other. I could force myself to learn it if I really wanted to but then I could still be at a disadvantage since it’s not my natural way of thinking it might never become it. Coding is simply not for everyone no matter how hard the government and others want to push it to be. It is simply the new fad that will definitely not die any time soon.
Norman Morales 