Teaching children programming using a well designed, interactive language can give kids a basic, intuitive understanding of algebra years before they ever open an algebra text book. Teach a child coding and they gain an intuitive understanding of concepts like functions, variables, recursion, etc., and and they will develop critical thinking skills that allow them to break down problems in to constituent parts and solve them in a sensible order. In short, they will gain familiarity with mathematical processes. Sure, some of them might develop a liking for it, just as some kids develop a liking for history, but that's missing the point. The point is not to create new 'coders,' the point is to give them a leg up when they start learning algebra, so when they are introduced to new concepts they can say "oh, hey I've seen something like this before."

Coding is the one of the best tools we've ever come up with for early math education. As always, the effectiveness depends on the teacher.