Some people say that programming is an art, others that it is a craft, 
others that it is an engineering discipline. The reason we do not agree 
is that programming basically means using computer code.

Code in itself is usually not art. Code is a tool, like a chisel, a 
paintbrush or a violin.

If you are an artist, you need a medium to express yourself. You can 
choose sculpture, paint, music, writing and many others, including 
computer programs.

Note that I am not saying that the code itself is never art. Examples of 
code as art include Code Poetry, obfuscated code or things like this 
guy's quines: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/ku-ma-me/20100905/p1

But usually the art is what you make with the code. The best example of 
this is probably the demo scene.

Some people say that this is only clever use of math, obsession with 
things like minimalism, and that people who make art with computers are 
just wannabe artists. I think they should have a second look at the work 
of artists such as Mondrian and Bach.

So to a 20 year old student who hesitates whether or not to learn how to 
program, I would say: if you want to sculpt, go practice with your 
chisel; if you want to code, go practice with your programming language.