‘Everyone Can Code’ is a new coding program announced by Apple at the keynote event on Wednesday, 7th of September, 2016. The program is designed for people who want to learn how to code using Apple’s homegrown programming language – Swift. The program is part of Apple’s efforts towards the achievement of the ConnectED initiative introduced by the U.S President, Barack Obama, and we do hope that in the near future, Apple will make the program open to other regions (like Africa).
Apple already announced the Swift Playgrounds iOS app earlier on at WWDC 2016, and the app which is designed to teach kids (and very much anyone else) how to code using Swift, will be released this fall. Swift Playgrounds will also power the Everyone Can Code program. The Swift Playgrounds gaming environment instructs students to solve puzzles using Swift. Students can also develop their ideas into apps, as Swift Playgrounds integrates with Apple’s mobile coding environment, Xcode.
With most schools dropping the ball when it comes to teaching coding, tech companies (like Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Andela) have taken on the responsibility of educating kids and adults alike on how to code. Also, with a tech revolution lying in foresight, it is paramount that everyone should know how to code. However, we expect that the methodology of coding should evolve, with apps like Swift Playgrounds giving insight into what coding will be like in the near future.
Lastly, platforms like this will equip people in the society to create substantial solutions to their problems and those of the society. And who knows, their ingenuity may scale globally, making life better for people all over the world and driving the world economies forward.