Coding is the next level of literacy, says Apple software boss

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Hair Force One wants everyone to become a coder.
Hair Force One wants everyone to become a coder.
Photo: Apple

Teaching your kids how to code is pretty much as important as teaching them to write, according to Apple’s senior VP of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, in an interview promoting the company’s Hour of Code project.

Apple is turning all of its retail locations into coding centers for kids this week. The classes will offer hands-on instructions into the basics of coding that Federighi says will hopefully set of a spark with the young learners.

“These devices are so much a part of our lives, we have a computer in some form wherever we go, that the ability to create in that medium is as fundamental as the ability to write,” Federighi told the BBC in an interview. “That first moment of realizing I could enter some commands in a computer and make it do something was a revelation.”

Nicknamed Hair Force One by fans, Federighi has become a developer favorite since being put in charge of both iOS and OS X. His keynote appearances are usually packed with witty jokes and the charismatic flair of Jobs, making coding nerds actually look cool. Federighi says he hopes the Hour of Coding workshops will help improve coders’ image problem.

“People sometimes have a view of programming that is something solitary and very technical. But programming is among the most creative, expressive and social careers. “It’s an incredibly creative medium, not unlike music.”

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