[Wickk]

Thought the article was going to be a question as to why. But I wholeheartedly agree as to why Python is a great forst language.

The simple fact that it's syntax light will always be the #1 reason it's a great introduction. Worry about the syntactical hangups once you have the core concepts of programming down.

I never understood those CS courses that have you diving in blind with C++

[commandar]

>I never understood those CS courses that have you diving in blind with C++

C++ made more sense to me than all the CS programs that were switching to Java for their intro to CS courses when I was coming up a decade ago.

C/C++ may have overhead that's confusing to a beginner out of the gate, but Java just amplifies that.

[Wickk]

Everyone learns differently, so hey to each their own. I dabbled for years throught my HS life in php, but when it came time to actually learn I was completely put off by my first intro to CS course that used the aforementioned 'Dive head first w/ C++!' method and left the course, and was one of 18 to do so.

Started learning python on my own around age 19 and everything just skyroketed from there. I'm much more comfortable using( saying that lightly ) C++ these days but I can't imagine ever recommending it to even an enemy as their first language.

An aquaintenance on a board somewhere put it best, " C++ is like a hurricane. Gorgeous but incredibly destructive". Personally I think it all looks hideous but I get the point now.

[commandar]

Oh, I agree that C++ doesn't make much sense as a first language in 2012. I was just pointing out that a few years ago, the trend was toward teaching Java which is, in my opinion, even worse as a first language because you're forcing people to immediately dive into dealing with classes before they even understand what a class is.

Today, I'd agree that Python -- and possibly Ruby -- is a better first language, but when this was happening they weren't particularly mature. You just didn't have the kind of mature, syntactically-clean, object-oriented languages available that you do now. Even so, I never understood why you'd choose Java with all its excess syntax to teach a beginner.

[Wickk]

Prob the age old reason because it's what most programmers end up using throughout their buisness life. Always been my guess anyway

[evincarofautumn]

Agreed. I may not be a fan of Python in general, but it is a good language for instruction for precisely that reason: less incidental complication so you can focus on inherent complexity.

As someone who’s well versed in C++, and who had to tutor CS students in it, I certainly wouldn’t recommend anyone use C++ unless they already know it and can use it effectively.