I'm not sure "thinking like a programmer" is a concrete goal, what would be accomplished. Getting a job? Programming is a thing, but it's always been very dive

I'm not sure "thinking like a programmer" is a concrete goal, what would be accomplished. Getting a job? Programming is a thing, but it's always been very diverse, creative, individual, personalized and wide variations of requirements. No two programmers will solve the same complex problem the same. The best programmers will solve it without programming! For programming itself, I think the fascination with computing itself is enough. You can go the academic route, hobby route, enterprise programming route or make your own way in the world. Being able to cobble up the pieces in order to build solutions is often enough skillset needed. There's never been a profession where you learn more on the job. If there's one goal the profession should embrace it's simplification and interfacing with the users, aka userfriendliness!