[WoodenChair]

I'm surprised a person as knowledgeable about the field as Mr. Atwood would write a column that seemingly endorses the notion that Computer Science == Coding/Programming. The public already has a large misunderstanding regarding this point (not to mention the difference between IT and CS). And I think politicians are under the impression that teaching students to code is the same as teaching them computer science. I'm disappointed to say the least that Mr. Atwood would further encourage this misconception that does serious damage to public discourse. We can't discuss a subject when we don't understand its terms/definition.

[jballanc]

Agreed completely! Similarly, most states' math curricula is stuck in an era when it was expected that the primary reason to learn math in high school was to be prepared for a science/engineering discipline in college. A curriculum more focused on number theory, logic, probability, and statistics would be far more useful to a greater number of students than one centered on trigonometry and calculus. Adding Computer Science to such a curriculum would only have an additive effect, I think.

[ak39]

  "The public already has a large misunderstanding regarding this point *(not to mention the difference between IT and CS)*"

Is there a difference between IT and CS? (Serious question)

(Maybe I misunderstood your point)

[WoodenChair]

IT refers to Information Technology. CS refers to Computer Science. IT is an applied technical discipline concerned with using available technologies to manipulate data for organizational operations. In its pure form, CS is a theoretical field concerned with using computational tools to solve problems on top of a mathematical foundation.

Of course there is a vague line between certain branches of applied computer science and theoretical information technology where the terms become nebulous. Wikipedia has decent definitions of both if you're so interested.