By Nishant Arora New Delhi, April 24 : "Coding is the only global language and I wish that more Indian students, including girls, learn coding early in school days so that they can create world-class products and solve real-life problems as they grow up," Apple CEO Tim Cook has stressed. In an interaction with IANS during his India visit last week, Cook said that coding is one thing schools worldwide including in India should embrace early in children's lives. "Coding is the only global language. It is a way to express yourself and arguably, we need more of that in the world and bring the world closer," said Cook, who has always emphasised that coding should be taught as early as elementary school. Cook told IANS that everyone should learn programming before they graduate from high school. "It is the most important language you can learn. A programming language is a way to tap into your creativity and unleash it to the world," he added. The Apple CEO has always emphasised on including coding in school curriculum, saying a four-year degree is not necessary to be proficient at coding. Apart from empowering developers via its Bengaluru-based App Accelerator, Apple has taken another significant leap: nurturing young talent in coding across schools and colleges in the country via powerful apps. For young coders, Apple offers Swift which is a powerful open language that lets everyone build amazing apps. Last year, Patiala-born Jaskaran Singh and Pune-based Jay Firke were among more than 350 students from 40 countries and regions who were selected as Apple's '2022 Swift Student Challenge' winner for showcasing extraordinary coding skills. Singh developed a productivity app called 'Nudges: Minimal To-Do', which is available on the App Store. Firke, 21, is a self-taught developer and learnt coding using online resources. Having studied at MacroVision Academy in Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh, he is focused on working in the AI and AR space and his submission with 'PushARBall' was completely AI driven. The 'Swift Student Challenge' is part of Apple's Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC). Moreover, Xcode is an integrated development environment (IDE) for macOS containing a suite of software development tools. In Cook's words, every kid should learn to code as coding is the most important second language they can learn. "Coding is one of the most valuable skills a person can learn. It can open new doors, jumpstart careers, and help big dreams seem like achievable goals. Everyone around the world should have an opportunity to learn how to code," according to the Apple CEO. (Nishant Arora can be reached at nishant.a@ians.in) /IANS