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Apple CEO Tim Cook Learned to Code in College

Monday January 22, 2018 4:53 pm PST by Juli Clover
Under the leadership of Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple has spearheaded an "Everyone Can Code" initiative designed to introduce coding curriculum into elementary schools, high schools, and colleges, so kids and adults of all ages can learn to code.

Apple CEO Tim Cook always speaks passionately about the importance of teaching coding to children of all ages, and last week in an interview, he even said that if you have to make a choice, it's more important to learn to code than to learn a foreign language.

Cook's recent comments spurred MacRumors reader El-ad to ask Cook about his own coding experience in an email, which Cook responded to. Cook says he learned to code in college because coding wasn't offered at the high school he attended.
El-ad,

I learned in college. No classes exist in the high school I attended. I'm happy this is now changing.

Tim
That Cook can code may not be immediately obvious as he ran Apple's worldwide operations before becoming CEO of the company, but it's no surprise. Before going to Duke University's Fuqua School of Business for his MBA, Cook graduated from Alabama's Auburn University with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, a major that requires a programming background.

In October of 2017, Cook shared additional details on his coding experience in an interview with The Sun. Back when he was attending Auburn University, Cook built a system to improve the traffic lights near the university. He aimed to optimize traffic to reduce wait times while maintaining the safety of the lights. His work was a success and it was implemented by the local police force.

"That was pretty cool at the time - and it worked, Cook said. "Law enforcement implemented it."

Apple's Everyone Can Code curriculum is available in schools and colleges around the world, with many colleges offering Apple's App Development with Swift Curriculum. That course is a full-year coding course designed by Apple engineers and educators and it is designed to teach students how to code and design apps for the App Store.

For younger learners, Apple offers Get Started With Code and Swift Playgrounds curriculum, and for those who want to learn outside of a classroom, Apple offers the Swift Playgrounds app on the iPad.

Tag: Tim Cook
[ 99 comments ]


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RCS31
10 months ago
I bet I'm a better coder than Tim :P
Rating: 9 Votes
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RCS31
10 months ago

"Coding"?, sigh. Can we start using using better terms? Nothing screams "amateur" more tan coding and coder. Wonder who was the first company to start the trend.

Coding is a widely adopted term for programming. I don't see the problem.
Rating: 9 Votes
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Sevendaymelee
10 months ago
Science has now shown and proven that computers in schools and the over-reliance on them, is hurting the learning process and causing problems within the human brain. There's no more arguing for their use in places of learning.

But will we listen? No, of course not. Why? Because we're all addicted and it's gotten ahold of us like some Matrix-level sh*t.
Rating: 8 Votes
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_Refurbished_
10 months ago
Lots of news stories about Tim Cook lately. Unlike Steve, I’m the least bit interested as he’s a very boring person.
Rating: 8 Votes
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BootsWalking
10 months ago
Now it's clear who coded the the iPhone 6 battery slowdown "fix".
Rating: 8 Votes
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gatearray
10 months ago
Fortran FTW!
Rating: 6 Votes
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cube
10 months ago

Type "coding" into google. The definition box shows "Computer Programming". It might have had low-level connotations in the past, but in the present, it's synonymous with "programming".

I don't care abot redefinitions by Google or hipsters.
Rating: 4 Votes
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rafark
10 months ago
"Coding"?, sigh. Can we start using using better terms? Nothing screams "amateur" more tan coding and coder. Wonder who was the first company to start the trend.

Just came from Apple's website: "coding language"? Now what is that abomination?
Rating: 4 Votes
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RedGala
10 months ago
Now we know.
Rating: 3 Votes
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BaltimoreMediaBlog
10 months ago

Don't get it twisted. HTML is not considered to be "coding" by experienced programmers. People who claim that HTML is coding are usually wannabes :p


I'll bet you Tim Cook thinks HTML is "coding" as is industrial engineering, computer engineering.

I studied Fortran, 6502 machine language and other HEX coding. :D
Rating: 3 Votes

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