Upon hearing de Blasio&#x27;s announcement, my initial reaction was   mandatory programming classes for high school is as unnecessary as mandatory calculus.<p>After reading the article, I&#x27;d update that opinion. I still don&#x27;t feel it should be mandatory for a basic High School degree, but perhaps forming a track for college bound students that includes programming (and calculus, AP english, etc.) and requiring that track to graduate with honors would be a good positive incentive.<p>Programming &amp; algorithms is a pretty advanced academic topic. Requiring it for graduation would set up a lot of students to fail or become disillusioned with what education has to offer them. Much like if Calculus were required.