Learning to Code: 30 best quotes from famous people (2021)

Bill Gates
Co-Chairman, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Co-Founder, Microsoft

Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains.

Tony Hsieh
CEO, Zappos

I think everyone should get a little exposure to computer science because it really forces you to think in a slightly different way, and it’s a skill that you can apply in life in general, whether you end up in computer science or not.

Hilary Mason
Founder, Fast Forward Labs and Data Scientist in Residence, Accel

I believe technology should give us superpowers. Everyone should have the opportunity to learn to think, analyze, and create with technology.

Jack Dorsey
Creator, Twitter and Founder & CEO, Square

I think that great programming is not all that dissimilar to great art. Once you start thinking in concepts of programming it makes you a better person…as does learning a foreign language, as does learning math, as does learning how to read.

John Hennessy
Former President, Stanford University

Learning to program is exciting: it’s stimulating, fun, develops new ways of thinking, and in a very short time you can build programs that will impress your friends and family!

Marco Rubio
U.S. Senator, Florida

Computer programmers are in great demand by American businesses, across the tech sector, banking, entertainment, you name it. These are some of the highest-paying jobs, but there are not enough graduates to fill these opportunities.

Dean Kamen
Founder, FIRST

There are way more exciting careers out there for people that have developed the muscle hanging between their ears than for all the sports and the entertainers combined.

John Fallon
CEO, Pearson

Code.org predicts that by 2020 there will be a shortfall of more than one million computer programmers in America alone. So I’m encouraged by any initiative that gives young people the skills they need to create, build, and be competitive in the 21st-century workforce.

Tony Cardenas
U.S. Congressman, California

The tech industry is quickly expanding and adding jobs to the U.S. economy. We need a workforce trained with computer science and coding skills that fuel this expansion, so we can keep these exciting jobs here.

Thomas Friedman
Commentator, Author

Many jobs at Google require math, computing, and coding skills, so if your good grades truly reflect skills in those areas that you can apply, it would be an advantage. But Google has its eyes on much more.

Todd Park
Former U.S. Chief Technology Officer

Technology and computers are very much at the core of our economy going forward. To be prepared for the demands of the 21st century—and to take advantage of its opportunities—it is essential that more of our students today learn basic computer programming skills, no matter what field of work they want to pursue.

John Hickenlooper
Governor, State of Colorado

There’s no question that computers are changing the world around us. To help prepare our children for a successful future, no matter what career they pursue, they need to learn basic computer programming skills.

Chris Stephenson
Computer Science Education Program Manager, Google

We consider it critical that students be able to read and write and understand math, biology, chemistry, and physics. To be a well-educated citizen in today’s computing-intensive world, students must have a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of computing as well.

Tim O’Reilly
Founder, O’Reilly Media

Programming is how we talk to the machines that are increasingly woven into our lives. If you aren’t a programmer, you’re like one of the unlettered people of the Middle Ages who were told what to think by the literate priesthood. We had a Renaissance when more people could read and write; we’ll have another one when everyone programs.

Jan Cuny
Program Director, National Science Foundation

All of today’s kids will need—along with reading, writing, and arithmetic—a basic understanding of computation and the role that it plays across a wide range of disciplines. Coding is engaging and empowering. It’s a necessary 21st Century skill.

Mario Armstrong
Digital Lifestyle Expert & TV Host, NBC, CNN/HLN, NPR

Kids who understand code are at the highest level of literacy in the 21st century. This will give all kids the tools to move from consumers to creators, enabling them for huge success.

Mark Surman
Executive Director, Mozilla Foundation

Code has become the 4th literacy. Everyone needs to know how our digital world works, not just engineers.

Peter Denning
Former President, Association of Computing Machinery

Learning to speak the language of information gives you the power to transform the world.

Maria Klawe
President, Harvey Mudd College

Coding is today’s language of creativity. All our children deserve a chance to become creators instead of consumers of computer science.

Gabe Newell
Founder & President, Valve

The programmers of tomorrow are the wizards of the future. You’re going to look like you have magic powers compared to everybody else.

Enda Kenny
Taoiseach, Ireland

Learning to code is learning to create and innovate. We want our young people, who have such enormous talent, to acquire this skill, so that they will become the trailblazers who will shape and change our future.