Post #1402974

2026-03-30 10:28 UTC

Perhaps I should also add (given that I've just mentioned it and it was probably just as bad an idea...) that answering the question "What language should we teach first?" without first deciding what we want them to do with it (that is, at least, during the rest of their degree whether that's CS or ends up being something else) is probably also a bad idea. Anyway I still want to steal lots of ideas from Smalltalk.

Replies (2)

@mavnn@bonfire.mavnn.eu 2026-03-30 11:07

Now, now, @edwinb@types.pl . You're almost making it sound like different programming languages are better at or make it easier to communicate different things to both their users and maybe even the computer. This is obviously nonsense, as shown by the many developers who will immediately tell you the best programming language.

Open ##1402978
@0x2ba22e11@unstable.systems 2026-03-30 11:17

@edwinb a member of my family recently learned to program in their late 30s. Had interest in computing their whole life and I think had tried some small courses before but it never clicked. Then we tried making a mod for the game Project Zomboid together and pretty soon they were writing lots of Lua. If you ask me to teach a random person to program I will first talk to them to find a project they are interested in making, and then use any programming language which can accomplish their project.

Open ##1402981