Learning to code is about more than just learning to give instructions to a computer. Leaders and influential people around the globe all agree, all students should learn how to code.

Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains.

Bill Gates , Co-Chairman, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Co-Founder, Microsoft

An understanding of computer science is becoming increasingly essential in today’s world. Our national competitiveness depends upon our ability to educate our children—and that includes our girls—in this critical field.

Sheryl Sandberg , Chief Operating Officer, Facebook

Coding is very important when you think about the future, where everything is going. With more phones and tablets and computers being made, and more people having access to every thing and information being shared, I think it’s very important to be able to learn the language of coding and programming.

Chris Bosh , NBA All-Star, Miami Heat

Computers are going to be a big part of our future…and that future is yours to shape.

President Barack Obama , Former President

We salute the coders, designers, and programmers already hard at work at their desks, and we encourage every student who can’t decide whether to take that computer science class to give it a try. New York City’s economic future depends on it, and while we’re already giving thousands of our students the opportunity to learn how to code, much more can and should be done.

Michael Bloomberg , Former Mayor, New York City

To prepare humanity for the next 100 years, we need more of our children to learn computer programming skills, regardless of their future profession. Along with reading and writing, the ability to program is going to define what an educated person is.

Salman Khan , Founder, Khan Academy

Our policy at Facebook is literally to hire as many talented engineers as we can find. There just aren’t enough people who are trained and have these skills today.

Mark Zuckerberg , Founder, Facebook

If you have a daughter, she should go be an engineer.

Meg Whitman, President & CEO, Hewlett-Packard

In a world where technology drives our industries, the financial sector is no different. Having bright, talented, creative minds developing innovative technology solutions for our businesses just makes sense. It’s good for them, and it’s good for business.

Jamie Dimon , President & CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Learning to code is useful no matter what your career ambitions are.

Arianna Huffington , Founder, The Huffington Post

Everybody in this country should learn to program a computer… because it teaches you how to think

Steve Jobs, co-Founder and CEO, Apple