Note: I didn't watch the video yet and my opinion might change by then.
C teaches you something very useful, which is how the computer works under the hood. Most things you do in C loosely match to what the computer does, and learning C helps you understanding the computer.
I'm not saying that it's a good language to start with, but it's okay. Unlike C++.
IMO, C++ is the worst possible language to start with. The reason for this is that C++ tries to support everything, often using handy but cryptic syntax. C++ doesn't guide you to program one way or another, it simply adapts to every possible way to solve the problem. This might be good on the hands of someone that already knows how to solve the problem, but it's completly overwhelming for a begginer. It feels like you're taking the wrong turn at every step.
A much better alternative would be JavaScript. Yes, it does have flaws, but it's much simpler and has personality.
IMHO "wrong" being mostly the opinion of the evangelists who think C++ is a completely different language, and have been trying to push it in that direction, but it's still mostly C at the core with a thick layer of abstraction/indirection on top. Don't believe all the hype. "Climbing the ladder of abstraction" is the best way to learn how everything works.
It seemed like the point of the presentation was really that C and C++ should be thought of as totally separate languages.
As long as that's remembered, I think the opposite is probably true: knowing C helps a lot to learn C++ (and vice versa) as opposed to learning either from scratch.
This is true, but there's a 'surface simularity' problem. It's easy to go from writing C to writing old-fashioned 'bad' C++. Modern C++ really is a different beast.
The thing is that if you're actually teaching C++ (which I have done), there's still the C parts that you actually have to teach as well that are common between both. So, if you know C, you don't need to learn those over again. I actually took a course at one job on C++ for C programmers back in the 90s and it was very well done for the time.
True, modern C++ is quite different. But, there's nothing from preventing a C programmer from starting as a "bad" C++ programmer and learning new techniques as they go.
C teaches you something very useful, which is how the computer works under the hood. Most things you do in C loosely match to what the computer does, and learning C helps you understanding the computer.
I'm not saying that it's a good language to start with, but it's okay. Unlike C++.
IMO, C++ is the worst possible language to start with. The reason for this is that C++ tries to support everything, often using handy but cryptic syntax. C++ doesn't guide you to program one way or another, it simply adapts to every possible way to solve the problem. This might be good on the hands of someone that already knows how to solve the problem, but it's completly overwhelming for a begginer. It feels like you're taking the wrong turn at every step.
A much better alternative would be JavaScript. Yes, it does have flaws, but it's much simpler and has personality.