Re: hold on...
> I wouldn't teach Java either. It only just got lambdas, for christ's sake.
And the first thing a beginning programmer absolutely needs to know about is closures and anonymous functions.. Sigh.
People often dismiss it, but there's no better language than pure C for learning basic procedural programming. It's simple, fast, and universally supported. Grab a GNU/Linux distro, install GCC and VIM, and away you go. A lot of people seem to be championing the idea that programming must be dumbed down to a reductionist agenda, and I think that's a mistake. Nothing worth learning is acquired that way.
The fact is, a lot of student won't be interested in the science of computing or programming, just like many aren't interested in physics, chemistry, or maths. Spoon feeding them a simplification of the subject matter won't change that reality.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
