Pieter Spronck wrote:...
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In my view, any course program that does not make "computer programming" a required course, is doing its students a disservice, as it is not preparing them for the job market. Actually, I would prefer it if secondary, or even primary schools would incorporate such courses, as programming skills tend to be easier to learn at a younger age. The reason is that they need a particular way of creative thinking, which is harder to acquire when one is already used to solving problems in the reproductive ways that are normally taught at schools. 

All students, regardless of their chosen topic, need to learn how to program. Not because we should raise a generation of computer programmers – professional programming is a specialization that only a few people need to be able to do. But the ability to create programs provides students with the skills to think and solve problems like a computer programmer, to gain insight in the possibilities and limitations of computers, and to leverage the power of computers in a particular domain in a uniquely human way. 

The goal of this book is to teach anyone how to create useful programs in Python. It should be usable by secondary school students, and university and college students for whom computer programming is not naturally incorporated in their course program. Its aim is to give anyone the means to become proficient in programming, and as such get prepared to perform well in the 21st century job market.