I think all students on a technical AP-track should learn how to program. Programming isn't a specific academic discipline as it is a TOOL to be used. Student

I think all students on a technical AP-track should learn how to program. Programming isn't a specific academic discipline as it is a TOOL to be used. Students that go on to study biology should have enough coding skill to know what they don't know, and go from there to do some genetic data analysis. Mechanical engineer track students should be able to do some modeling and implement the algorithms behind them. Business track students should be able to do more powerful analyses than excel sorting. I only took a BASIC course in 8th grade and a 2-week C course in college, the rest was self-taught. But I've found myself using programming significantly more than any of the higher level calculus I've learned (not that this should be replaced!!)