What programming language(s) do you think should be taught at school?

[rorz0r]

+1 for C# here. It's basically open source now, is OO, isn't **** like Java. Can be use for desktop, web and mobile apps. .NET Core is the future and between that and mono and it will basically run everyone you'd need it to.
Visual Studio pretty much blows away every "open source" IDE. (JetBrains' IDE's are very close though).
In addition to that a must would be a solid understanding of RDBMS and SQL. Learn ES6 too because if you're just starting out you may as well start with ES6 and let it transpile where it needs to.

Remember at a school level people need to learn enough "life skills" to get by. The above will pretty much let you achieve much of what you want and anyone who really cares about mem_alloc can go do that on their own time or even later in life.

Arduino type dev is a good way to get into C (without thinking too much about C) and a good understanding of electronics, clock cycles, some memory management, etc. That's would probably be quite fun in school.

 

[Geoff.D]

You would have to teach programmers how computers actually work.
That would remove 90% of the people in the field.

And that may be a huge leap forward for mankind! ------

You can start with RPN calculators. Just think if our dear president learnt how to use RPN calculators what a difference that would have made!

:crylaugh:

Schools should start with how to develop flowcharts and algorithms before they worry about a coding language ...

 

[FarligOpptreden]

Hmmm, I'd say javascript. Or specifically ECMAScript 6. Easily accessible, includes classes and you can run it on so many different platforms.

^5

So's Python. Now what?

Might be, but web apps are quite prevelant these days and, well, JavaScript is the scripting language of the browser. If you aim to write interactive apps for a browser, you don't really have much of a choice...

 

[Hamster]

^5

Might be, but web apps are quite prevelant these days and, well, JavaScript is the scripting language of the browser. If you aim to write interactive apps for a browser, you don't really have much of a choice...

I'll never get this obsession with the front end and interactive apps. Think people forget about all the juicy stuff that for t end devs never work with.

 

[Necropolis]

Oh we're doing this again.

Python, C# or Java

I wouldn't suggest Python - I reckon a beginner needs to learn a type safe language first - before they learn bad habits from python.

 

[FarligOpptreden]

I'll never get this obsession with the front end and interactive apps. Think people forget about all the juicy stuff that for t end devs never work with.

I love every facet and tier of enterprise / web development. Front-end, APIs, daemons, message queues, integration services, SQL- and NoSQL databases, frameworks, toolsets... They all pose different challenges that I relish each day.

 

[Necropolis]

I want to say SQL because it's easier to understand, but it's a QUERY language, not programming language.

I would definitely teach SQL in conjunction with an actual programming language.

 

[Thor]

Javascript

 

[Thor]

If it's good enough for Lynda then it sure as hell is good enough for any SouthAfrican school

http://m.lynda.com/JavaScript-tutor...ions-of-Programming-Fundamentals/83603-2.html

 

[Diesal]

Visual Basic

ah I see it was posted already.

 

[Hamish McPanji]

Machine code. For protection when skynet takes over

 

[Hamish McPanji]

Javascript

Not a real language™

 

[Thor]

Not a real language™

Like I said, if it's good enough for Lynda it's good enough for Africa.

You know they teach perl now right?

Little brother is in high school now takes IT, perl is what they use.

Who on fcks earth still uses that archaic language.

 

[biometrics]

Like I said, if it's good enough for Lynda it's good enough for Africa.

You know they teach perl now right?

Little brother is in high school now takes IT, perl is what they use.

Who on fcks earth still uses that archaic language.

If you can't code in assembler you're not a real programmer. FACT.

 

[Geoff.D]

If you can't code in assembler you're not a real programmer. FACT.

Fully agree . Programming in Assembler and doing it properly means one understands exactly what the hardware is capable of ......

 

[KleinBoontjie]

Turtle

 

[Hamster]

If you can't code in assembler you're not a real programmer. FACT.

I'll settle being just a developer then

 

[biometrics]

I'll settle being just a developer then

Ha ha. You do know it's the same thing, right?

But whatever, unless you can code in assembler you're just a script jockey not having a clue why things are done the way they are. Any idea why variable types exist?

You probably don't mind the 300+ MB .NET runtime or whatever monolithic size it's reached.

No pride in your work.

Do yourself a favour and take on a Arduino or similar project in C or assembler.

 

[xumwun]

Not a real language™

What makes a "real" language then?

 

[kaufen]

To hone problem solving and abstract thinking related skills, its a good idea to teach programming early. And you never know, they may have that hidden talent where they start developing serious software or games at a very young age. I'd also look up other mechanisms to hone problem solving skills at a young age.

However, if you think they should be programmers to have a successful technology career or have their own startup. That's not true. One would need to understand current technology applications, trends, and possibilities. To get the right product idea, a good (profitable) market mix, and access to a team is far more important than hacking code. There are tons of talented coders out there ... and they can be recruited / partnered with etc.