Has to choose for himself of course but programming taught me general problem solving skills. Even if he doesn’t go in the direction of engineering, it’s a good way to train how to think in a more structured way that can be applied to many fields.
Discussion
I always tell my engineering interns that often times we as developers get myopically focused on learning specific frameworks, but there is a macro skill in programming: abstract problem solving.
This is the skill worth pursing as it can be so easy to get lost in the minutia.