New York: Teaching kids to code is just as important as teaching them any other language. And the younger they start learning it, the better, Apple CEO Tim Cook said.

Cook spoke to a group of New York third graders who visited a Manhattan Apple store for an "Hour of Code" class. In an interview afterward, he said that schools aren't putting enough emphasis on computer-science education, but he has "great hope" that will change and coding will ultimately become a required class for all kids. 

"From an economic standpoint the job segment itself today is huge, but it's going to become even larger," Cook said. The "Hour of Code" workshop was one of many held by Apple Inc. and a slew of other technology companies around the world this week as part of a Code.org push to introduce as many kids as possible to computer science through a one-hour class. 

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