Tangential anti-educationist rant (was: what is easier to learn first?...)

[Cameron Laird]

In article <XUDB4.2253$nI2.45719 at ptah.visi.com>,
Grant Edwards <nobody at nowhere.nohow> wrote:
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>more Python.  I'd definitely go with Python.  C is for OS
>kernels, device drivers, and embedded work.  It really oughtn't
>be taught to beginners or people who just want to write an
>application.  C is low-level and unsafe: the programmer's got
>to do way too much of the housekeeping, and there are countless
>ways to hang yourself before you've even gotten enough rope out
>to accomplish anything. -- but at least the semantics are
>farily simple (assuming you know some assembly language and how
>compilers work).
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It pretty well captures my impression of
institutional education that US high
schools commonly teach C (and C++!) as a
first programming language.  I find that
typical of the mental abuse they thought-
lessly perpetrate.
-- 

Cameron Laird <claird at NeoSoft.com>
Business:  http://www.Phaseit.net
Personal:  http://starbase.neosoft.com/~claird/home.html