Yesterday, I started taking the new programming classes in my school. I am utterly disappointed, before even teaching my classmates who are new to programming some basic python or javascript, the teacher started the class with teaching arduino and C and because of that many of my friends have since dropped the class and we are only 3 left out of an original 20.

Although some of you might say that arduino is a good introduction to programming, I believe you should teach a kid basic python or java before getting into arduino or raspi..etc

Well this has its pros as well. Since the only people staying are truely motivated. And time is normally limited so starting there gains tons of time, both because of the motivated students as the starting point is a bit higher.

@Codex404 Yes you are right about that yet i believe that it is necessary for people to know the fundementals before going into arduino and OOP.

Agreed, Python is great because it allows you to learn the basics without fighting the compiler.

But then again a large portion would have dropped out either way. When people start to realize what programming actually means not many pull through.

@deadlyRants Yeah, think you're right.

I guess but tbh Python teaches some pretty bad habits + it can be hard to transition from Python to a language more like C++. I've seen many give up on programming when they realise they've got to used to Python.

@Wytchley Do you have an example or two of bad habits?

@freakko one would definitely be not using semicolons. I've seen so many people in my class give up after continuously missing semicolons. In fact the whole syntax as a whole is a bad habit imo. It looks much simpler, and that's the issue. So many are scared off by the braces, the need to define what type of value a function will return, the need to define a variable's type, access specifiers, etc. People seem to hate this when moving over to something like C++ from what I've seen. It's not much more complex but I guess it just seems like it.

(Also, I personally hate the fact that you can't pass variables by reference or use pointers, at least in my experience. That isn't really a bad habit though)

P.S. sorry for the massive rant 😂👍 maybe you disagree? Maybe I'm wrong? Idk, that's just what I've experienced in my class/with friends.

@Wytchley but if you go the other way around its the same. No telling what people will do later. Goof programmers can adapt othereise you will turn out to be one of those seniors people rant about.

@Codex404 I agree about adapting but I disagree about it being the same the other way around. People don't tend to give up on easier looking things?

@Wytchley for me python, Lua, CoffeeScript and Sass looks a lot more complicated than any C influenced languages

@Codex404 Maybe, I'm not saying that my comment is true for everyone. It's just in my experience, seeing how people react.