Apple’s CEO Tim Cook is spearheading a new initiative called “Everyone can Code” which helps to launch coding curriculum in colleges, high schools and elementary schools so both adults and children can acquire coding skills.
Cook is quite passionate about children of all ages learning to code. Only a week ago he said in an interview that if someone had to choose he would recommend learning to code rather than learning a foreign language.
Responding to an email enquiry, Cook recently revealed that he only learned to code in college, since the high school he attended did not offer coding classes.
Before becoming Apple’s CEO, Cook managed the company’s international operations. He received his MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, but before that Cook completed a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering at Auburn University in Alabama – a qualification for which he needed a coding background.
In an interview with The Sun in October last year, Cook revealed more details about his coding experience during the time he attended Auburn University. He said he developed a system that improved traffic lights in the vicinity of the university by optimising traffic lights and reducing waiting times. It was successful, and the local police force implemented the system.
Apple’s ‘Everyone Can Code’ syllabus is available in colleges and school across the globe, with a large number of colleges providing classes in Apple’s App Development and Swift Curriculum – a one-year coding course developed by educators and Apple engineers to teach students how to design apps for the company’s App Store and also to acquire other coding skills.
For individuals who wish to learn coding outside a classroom environment, Apple has the Swift Playgrounds app for the iPad and for younger students the company provides the Get Started With Code and Swift Playgrounds curriculum.