如今，網際網路創業的熱潮已經席捲了整個世界。程式語言日益成為21世紀最有價值的語言和走上人生巔峰的坦途。那麼，計算機技能在美國大學看來有多重要？學習編程在美國未來發展前景具體如何？如果孩子不準備未來成為「程序猿」和「碼農」，有必要學習編程嗎？這些問題都可以在這篇文章中找到答案。
Should all kids learn to code?
是否所有學生都應該學編程？
Is the best second language Spanish, Chinese, Java, or Ruby?
最好的第二語言是西班牙語、漢語、JAVA還是Ruby?
Coding languages are the backbone of our interconnected world. Here's why your kids needs to understand digital language — no matter what career they pursue.
程式語言是眼下這個互聯世界的主心骨。本文將說明為什麼你的孩子需要理解數碼語言——不管他們未來追求的是何種事業。
Our children won’t be using Java, C++, Python, Ruby, or any of the other top 10 coding languages to chat with foreign strangers on trains in exotic locales. But these programming languages — used to develop mobile apps, analyze data, and perform other Internet business and marketing functions — may be the most important second, third, or fourth language your child will ever learn.
在火車上或者異國他鄉時，我們的孩子不會用Java、C++、Python、Ruby之類的十大程式語言同陌生的外國人聊天。這些程式語言雖是用來開發APP、分析數據、發揮其他網際網路商務和營銷功能的，卻有可能是孩子所能學到最重要的第二門、第三門甚至第四門語言。
Learning computer science (CS) provides a golden opportunity in our children’s future employment prospects. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in computers and information technology are expected to grow 12 percent from 2014 to 2024, adding 488,500 new jobs. These positions currently offer a median wage of $79,390, more than double the average of $35,540 for all occupations. Computer jobs are appearing faster than U.S. schools are preparing people to fill them; today an estimated half-million of such jobs are open.
學習計算機科學（以下簡稱「CS」）能為孩子未來的就業帶來黃金機會。據美國勞工統計局（the Bureau of Labor Statistics）數據，從2014年到2024年，計算機和信息技術方面的工作將增加12%，新添488,500個新崗位。這些職位目前年薪的中位數為79,390美元，比所有職業平均數（35,540美元）的兩倍還多。計算機相關的崗位如雨後春筍般湧現，美國的學校尚來不及儲備足夠的人才。如今，此類崗位約有50萬空缺。
Of course, not every child wants a career as a programmer, but learning coding is a valuable life skill for everyone. The ability to create a website or app for a business is a marketable skill for people in a range of careers, from advertising and public relations to jewelry designers and gamers. And it’s exponentially prosperous: Apple sold $20 billion in apps in 2015, which is twice the amount they earned from apps just two years prior in 2013. Though perhaps less profitably, coding skills can benefit accountants, administrators, journalists, and security and data analysts, just to name few.
當然，並不是每個孩子都想當程式設計師。但對每個人來說，學寫代碼都是一項受益終生的寶貴能力。創建商業網站和APP的能力十分受市場歡迎，不論你從事的是廣告、公共關係、珠寶設計還是遊戲行業。而且它的繁榮程度也是呈幾何級數地增長：2015年蘋果公司的APP銷售額達到200億美金，是2013年APP營業額的兩倍。雖然（相比IT科技行業）沒有那麼賺錢，但是代碼編寫能力還可以用於會計師、行政人員、記者、安全和數據分析師等各行各業。
Even knowing just a little coding can help reduce the fear of technology, opening a mental window to understanding and using tech skills more broadly. There’s also the argument, propounded by Steve Jobs himself, that coding 「teaches you how to think.」 Many educators say coding can provide children with brain gains in information processing, logic, problem solving, experimentation, and creativity.
哪怕只懂一點點編程，也能減少人們對於技術的恐懼，打開心靈之窗，讓人們更加廣泛地理解和運用技術知識。賈伯斯（Steve Jobs）自己也提出，寫代碼「能教導你如何思考」。很多教育家表示，孩子們能通過寫代碼來掌握信息處理能力、邏輯、解決問題的能力、動手實驗能力和創造力。
Unfortunately, only 10 percent of U.S. schools currently offer computer programming classes, reports Code.org and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. As a result, we’re trailing most of the developed world.
只可惜，據Code.org和信息技術與創新基金會（the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation）稱，目前美國只有10%的學校提供計算機編程課。因此，美國在這方面落後於絕大多數發達國家。
Why the U.S. deficit in CS?
美國的CS缺口從何而來？
How far behind are we? When the Paris-based OECD Programme for International Assessment (PISA) last tested for digital literacy back in 2011, it ranked South Korea first, with New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and Iceland close behind. The U.S. wasn’t tested, but Ron Anderson, a University of Minnesota professor emeritus who has taught classes on the sociology of technology, says the 「United States probably would have performed in the middle third of the countries.」
美國的CS教育水平究竟有多落後呢？在國際學生評估項目(PISA)上一次的數碼素養測試中（2011年度），韓國名列第一，紐西蘭、澳大利亞、日本、香港、冰島緊隨其後。美國雖然沒有受測，但明尼蘇達大學的榮譽退休教授，開設過技術社會學課程的羅恩·安德森（Ron Anderson）老師說：「美國的表現很可能排在1/3到2/3之間。」
At best, that’s mediocre. But why? It’s unclear, but it is clear that not much attention was being paid to CS by schools, teachers, and students nationally. Take AP tests, for example. In 2014, students sat for 39,278 CS AP exams versus almost a million AP English exams. A survey by the Computer Science Teachers Association found that the percentage of high schools offering CS classes dropped from 78 percent in 2005 to 65 percent in 2009, while the percentage of AP computer classes fell from 40 percent in 2005 to 27 percent in 2009. According to the survey there were multiple reasons for the decline — none of them reassuring — including lack of teacher subject knowledge, difficult subject matter, lack of student interest, and lack of staff support.
這樣的表現，最多就是中等水平。但究竟為何？原因雖不明確，但美國的學校、老師和學生顯然都沒有給予CS足夠的重視。AP測試便是例證。2014年，近一百萬學生參加了AP英語考試，但只有39,278參加了AP CS考試。美國計算機科學教師協會（the Computer Science Teachers Association）的調研表明，開設CS課程的高中從2005年的78%降低到了2009年的65%，AP電腦課程也從2005年的40%降到了2009年的27%。據調查，衰減背後的原因有許多，沒有一個讓人省心——教師的課程知識匱乏、課程內容過難、學生興趣不足、人員支持不足。
Solve this conundrum: How is it that the U.S., the birthplace of Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and umpteen other computer science-inspired giants, lags in pumping out computer scientists?
讓我們解開這道謎題吧：為什麼美國誕生了臉書、蘋果、微軟、谷歌等無數的計算機科學龍頭企業，卻在產出計算機科學家方面落後於人？
Here’s one answer: American universities offer excellent STEM graduate classes, but the majority are filled with foreign students. The National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Engineering Indicators 2014 report states that 「foreign students earned … 51 percent of all computer science doctorates,」 even though only 5.6 percent of the students were foreigners.
有一種答案是：美國大學提供了絕佳的STEM研究生課程，但上課的基本上都是留學生。美國國家科學協會(NSF)科學與工程學指數2014年報告稱，「CS博士學位有51%是授予外國學生的」，雖然留學生只佔全美學生的5.6%。
Another reason is gender based. U.S. women are not exhibiting much interest in computer science. While 57 percent of U.S. college graduates are women, they only earn 18 percent of the computer science bachelor’s degrees. Despite the fact that Augusta Ada King, the Countess of Lovelace, was the world’s first computer programmer, computing in the U.S. is generally regarded as a 「guy thing,」 — more so today than in the past. In fact, women’s participation has plummeted in the last 32 years, ever since 1984, when 37 percent of computer grads were women.
另一個原因則與性別有關。美國女性對CS並未表現出太多興趣。雖然美國大學畢業生中有57%是女性，但CS本科學位的獲得者中只有18%是女性。儘管奧古斯塔·阿達·金，勒芙蕾絲伯爵夫人（Augusta Ada King, the Countess of Lovelace）是世界上第一位程式設計師，但美國的計算機行業普遍被視為「男人的天下」——這個情況如今更甚從前。事實上，在過去的32年間，女性的行業參與度已經暴跌。1984年，女性計算機畢業生佔37%。
Wake up! Let’s code!
醒醒！來寫代碼吧！
About five years ago, America started to wake up from its long CS slumber. In August 2011 came the launch of Codecademy. The site offered free coding tutorials and has attracted millions of students. On Jan. 5, 2012 Michael Bloomberg, then New York City’s mayor, tweeted his New Year’s resolution to learn programming. On Jan. 17, 2012, Douglas Rushkoff presented his essay, Why I Am Learning To Code and You Should, Too, in his CNN column. Interest exploded, with pundits and media everywhere wrestling with the new question, 「Should everyone learn to code?」
大約五年前，美國開始從漫長的CS低迷期中復甦。2011年8月，代碼學院（Codecademy）網站誕生。這個站點免費輔導網友寫代碼，吸引了數百萬名學生。2012年1月5日，時任紐約市長的麥可·布隆伯格（Michael Bloomberg）在新年講話中表達了學習編程的決心。當月17日，道格拉斯·洛西科夫（Douglas Rushkoff）在自己的CNN專欄中發表了《為什麼我在寫代碼，你也應該寫》一文。隨後，人們對編程的興趣猛漲，業內行家和媒體紛紛爭論起這個問題：「是不是每個人都應該學寫代碼？」
Rushkoff, author of Program or Be Programmed, became a leading digital crusader and a spokesperson for Codecademy. He argued that schools in the U.S. need to 「begin treating computer code the way we do the alphabet or arithmetic.」 Rushkoff claimed there is such a dearth of skilled programmers in the country that firms like Google and Facebook buy entire companies simply to gain access to their code-literate employees. 「If you know how to code, you can likely get a high-paying job right now,」 wrote Rushkoff in 2012. 「You will be enabling America to compete effectively on both the economic and military frontiers, where we are rapidly losing our competitive advantage due to our failure to teach ourselves code.」
洛西科夫是《程序還是程序化》（Program or Be Programmed）一書的作者，也是代碼學院的數碼學科領頭人和發言人。他表示，美國的學校需要「開始像我們對待字母表或算數一樣，對待計算機代碼了」。洛西科夫稱，美國熟練編程人才的缺口如此之大，以至於谷歌、臉書等公司會為了得到編程高手而買下其供職的整個公司。「如果你會寫代碼，你現在就有可能獲得高薪」，他在2012年寫道，「你會讓美國有能力在經濟和軍事前線高效作戰。我們在這些領域的的競爭優勢正迅速消失，因為沒能教會自己寫代碼。」
Making sure our kids learn to code isn’t just smart career planning, Rushkoff contended; it’s practically a patriotic duty.
讓孩子們去寫代碼並不只是為了他們的前途考慮，洛西科夫繼續說道，這實際上也是愛國者的義務。
Next, President Obama entered the fray. At Computer Science Education Week 2013 he urged youngsters: 「Don’t just buy a new video game. Make one. Don’t just download the latest app. Help design it. Don’t just play on your phone. Program it. No one is born a computer scientist, but with a little hard work and some math and science, just about anyone can become one. … Just give it a shot.」
隨後，歐巴馬總統也加入其中。2013年計算機科學教育周上，他敦促青少年說：「別只買新的遊戲了，自己寫一個吧。別下載最新的APP了，去幫別人一起設計一個吧。別光顧著玩手機了，給它寫個程序吧。沒有人是天生的計算機科學家。但只要你努力一點、學些數學和科學知識，那幾乎每個人都可能成為計算機科學家……你不妨一試！」
Today, Codecademy has myriad competitors; Information Week lists multiple options, such as Plural Sight, CodeSchool, Treehouse, Hack Reactor, andMakerSquare. Even celebrities, including pro basketball player Chris Bosh, musician Will.i.am, comedian Jimmy Fallon and supermodel Karlie Kloss, are joining the call and urging young minds to learn coding. Kloss is especially persuasive; she claims 「coding is a superpower」 and she offers Kode with Karlie scholarships to young women around the world. Last summer 21 girls learned Ruby and created Web apps via Kloss’s empowering program.
如今，代碼學院已經有了無數的競爭者：Plural Sight, CodeSchool, Treehouse, Hack Reactor, MakerSquare等等，在信息周（Information Week）紛紛亮相。甚至連籃球高手克裡斯-波什（Chris Bosh）、音樂人威廉（Will.i.am）、笑星吉米·法倫（Jimmy Fallon）和超模卡莉·克勞斯（Karlie Kloss）等名人也響應號召，督促年輕人學寫代碼。克勞斯的說服力尤其強大。她說「寫代碼就是一種超能力」，並且向世界年輕女性提供了編程獎學金「Kode with Karlie scholarship」。去年夏天，21位女生通過該資助項目學會了Ruby語言，創造出了網頁APP。
Programming our future
「編」寫我們的未來
Across the nation, many school districts are elevating their attitude toward CS. In California, the State Board of Education has proposed bills that would develop computer science standards for grades 1–12, and the University of California, Berkeley admissions department is being pressured to upgrade high school computer science classes from mere electives to the status of math courses, similar to statistics and calculus. In Iowa, the Department of Education intends to file a bill that requires all high schools to offer computer science courses by the 2018-19 school year. Louisiana, Massachusetts, Texas, and Virginia, already give special diplomas to students who matriculate with specific computer science credits.
在整個美國，很多校區都已對CS刮目相看。加利福尼亞的州教育局已經提出了議案，提高一至十二年級的CS學習標準。加州大學伯克利分校的招生部門也在壓力之下，將高中的CS課程從選修課提升到了與數學同等重要的地位，其分量不亞於統計學和微積分。艾奧瓦州教育部計劃提出一項議案，要求所有的高中在2018-2019學年之前開設CS課程。路易斯安那州、麻薩諸塞州、德克薩斯州和維吉尼亞州已經為修滿具體CS學分的學生提供了特別證書。
The desire for CS classes is obvious. Arkansas governor Asa Hutchison signed a law in 2014 requiring public high schools in his state to offer computer science classes; enrollment more than tripled the following year.
人們對CS課程的渴望是顯而易見的。阿肯色周的州長阿薩·賀勤森（Asa Hutchison）在2014年批准了一項法令，要求阿肯色州的公立高中開設計算機課程，隨後一年的招生率便比往年的三倍還多。
Help has also arrived from outside school walls. As recently as January 2016, Seattle-based nonprofit Code.org announced it would team up with Birmingham-based A+ College Ready and invest $500,000 to train 50 Alabama computer science high school teachers to teach Advanced Placement courses.
來自校外的幫助也紛至沓來。就在2016年1月，西雅圖非營利組織Code.org宣布了要與伯明罕A+ College Ready合作，投資五十萬美元培訓50名來自阿拉伯馬的高中CS教師，讓他們為學生傳授大學預修課程。
Code.org also launched the global Hour of Code movement, a one-hour free tutorial in computer science that, they claim, reaches millions of students in more than 180 countries. Their mission is to demystify coding and present it as an accessible subject. Surveys at a Florida high school retrieved after a recent Hour of Code indicated that 360 students were interested in taking computer sciences classes the following year.
Code.org還推出了全球「編程一小時（Hour of Code）」運動，即免費的一小時CS輔導課。他們表示，這個項目將覆蓋180多個國家數以百萬計的學生。他們的使命是讓寫代碼變得明白易懂，成為一種輕鬆易學的科目。「編程一小時」運動近年開展後，弗洛裡達一所高中的調研數據表明，隨後一年有360位學生對修讀CS課程產生了興趣。
CS for geeks and nongeeks
不論入迷與否，都能學習CS
Are there high schools where you can enroll your adolescent geek in excellent computer classes? Yes, there are. Champions at the American Computer Science League 2015 contests include Poolesville High School, Takoma Park Middle School, and Montgomery Blair High School, all in Maryland; Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, Dwight-Englewood School in New Jersey, and ACEPREP in Dublin, California. If you dwell in the Big Apple, the best bet could be the Computer Science Institute at John Dewey High School, offering a rigorous four-year program with an emphasis on JAVA.
有沒有那種招收少年CS迷，開設優質計算機課程的高中？沒錯，有！美國計算機科學聯盟2015年大賽冠軍們就來自馬裡蘭州的普爾斯維爾高中（Poolesville High School）、塔科馬帕克中學（Takoma Park Middle School）和蒙哥馬利布萊爾高中（Montgomery Blair High School），麻薩諸塞州的菲利普斯學院（Phillips Academy），新澤西州的德懷特－恩格爾伍德中學(Dwight-Englewood School)，加利福尼亞州都柏林的ACE預科學校。如果你住在紐約，約翰·杜威高中（John Dewey High School）的計算機科學中心將是最好的選擇，因為它提供以JAVA為重心的四年制嚴格項目。
Even if your child’s high school doesn’t offer any CS classes, you can still help your son or daughter learn what some have dubbed an essential 21st century skill. You can sign 』em up for immersive experiences such as InternalDrive’s tech camps, which offer more than 100 locations for kids ages 7 to 17. If these tuition prices are beyond your budget, free online options can be accessed at home, such as Khan Academy, MIT open courseware, Codecademy, and many others.
就算你的孩子就讀的高中不提供任何CS課程，你也能幫助子女學習21世紀一些堪稱「核心」技能。你可以為他們報名「內在動力科技訓練營」（InternalDrive’s tech camps）之類的集訓活動，7-17歲的孩子皆可參加，全國公有100多個授課點。如果這些活動的學費超出了你的預算，那麼也可以在家裡運用免費的網絡資源，像可汗學院（Khan Academy）、麻省理工公開課（MIT open courseware）、代碼學院（Codecademy）等等。
No matter how you do it, keep the ultimate goal in mind: your child’s future. How bright are the chances of future employment for CS specialists? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2014 the average salary for software developers was $97,990, and for computer and informational research scientists it was $108,360. To stay current, check out the best programming language to learn in 2016.
不論你想怎麼辦，都要記住這個終極目標：你孩子的未來。CS專業人士未來的就業前景有多好？根據美國勞工統計局的數據，2014年軟體開發人員的平均薪資為97,990美元，計算機和信息搜索科學家則為108,360美元。欲知最新消息，可前往best programming language to learn in 2016站點查詢。
Finally, it’s worth remembering that not every child has what it takes to be a computer scientist. Not only are strong analytical and problem-solving skills essential, but it also helps to be detail-oriented and to have a crackerjack memory. Most importantly, before you engineer an education makeover for your child, make sure your child is as excited by the prospect as you are.
最後，家長也有必要記住，不是每個孩子都有天分成為計算機科學家。因為這不只需要強大的分析和解決問題能力，最好還要關注細節、具有出色的記憶力。最重要的是，在你對孩子的教育大做文章之前，要確認孩子本人也像你一樣對CS的前景感到振奮。
Still, everyone could use a demystifying lesson in basic coding — it』ll help in the long run.
當然，每個人都不妨聽一堂明白易懂的基礎代碼課——從長遠來看，這不無好處。
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