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<p>But the point is that a programming class will teach you almost nothing about computers, at least as far as general use goes. So in that sense, you’re not really understanding its importance. “Simple applications” are programs that do very few things and have very little machinery behind them - that’s what most programming classes consist of. By contrast, Excel and Word are incredibly complex.</p>
<p>If you’re not going into CS as a career, the main benefit is in how you think, not unlike a formal logic class. I think the logic class would be more useful though.</p>