[tikhonj]

I think, perhaps, it's a matter of perspective. You can think of coding as "making a computer do stuff" in which case it could be less fundamental and important (but maybe more practical) than physic. Or, you could think of it as the study of information, which is as fundamental as physics.

Now, to be entirely fair, this is not "coding" but "computer science". (Which, coincidentally, is neither a science nor about computers.) However, I think coding is a practical proxy for computer science, so the idea is the same: it's not just a practical skill but also a deeper understanding of the world.