So much depends on the internet that any up-and-coming entrepreneur would be wise to study some programming and web / app design.

Even if that's not your intended major and not what you'll be doing professionally one day, knowing how to code – if only in a very sketchy way – opens up a lot of doors. The basic principles are the same whether you're writing in Matlab, MySQL, HTML, jQuery, or whatever we're using when I wake up next.

You'll communicate better with the software engineers and designers you'd be hiring or working alongside. (Virtually inescapable nowadays.) And you'd be better able to keep up with changing terminology and techniques if you're grounded in something similar.

It can be quite useful to know how to publish content on your own self-created platform, troubleshoot IT problems, and invent new functionality. Programming is an act of incessant invention. Many of us find it a creative outlet and a lot of fun. You might or might not.

Apart from the practical benefits of learning to program, you'll simply end up knowing a little bit more why human civilization is what it is in the year 2015 onward.