Hi, I’d like to point out here some ideas on the matter, accrued over more than 30 years spent in CS training in k9-13 students. First of all, Phil James (with others) is clearly right on saying . Nevertheless, coding in a Programming Language is a step which has to follow the most important ones, i.e. those leading to the pseudo-language version of the solution (the algorithm), supported at least by a fairly detailed “data table” including the most meaningful problem data. Given the above, my idea here is that not every language is good for beginners, as the last decade trend towards Block-Based PL shows. The most motivating factor on learning software development is seeing a program running right but debugging a C program can be a much more frustrating experience compared to other languages, especially if trainers address students towards somewhat cryptic constructs. For example, who could say that the equivalent statements 1) i++; 2) i := i+1; 3) change i by 1; 4) increase i by 1; are all “user friendly” and/or preferred at the same level? Novices would probably grade them from 4) to 1), but exactly the inverted order for professionals. Also, how much proper it can be let novice use a language addressed to professionals? In my opinion, they would both complain, though for opposite reasons! In the last 10-15 years a lot of colleagues (educators in CS) and authors of school textbooks in the field drop out Pascal as a PL from their CS courses, a language considered for decades one of the best ones ​​to learn programming (please note, it’s embedded in Borland Delphi too, the well-known first-level Rapid Application Development environment!): incidentally, I let use Pascal recently as a pseudo-language in my courses (a very good expedient for several aspects!) and many of the persons I mentioned earlier (i.e. educators and authors) often behave the same way, although they mask it more or less markedly (for example, by localizing the language for the country, a very questionable approach today... ). Let me ask it now, have the basics of computer programming changed so much nowadays? I cannot agree with this assumption, sure! Variables, loops, conditionals, arrays, functions and so on, must be in every programmer's toolbox, regardless of the type of application they develop. Hence, any language that makes them easier to understand is good for the purpose. A good didactic strategy often adopted in the introductory courses (the current norm in my institution) is to explain the basics in pseudo-language and mapping them into several different languages (possibly including at least one non-textual language, such as MIT Scratch or any other BBPL), highlighting similarities and differences between them.

To conclude, the ideas presented here are the subject of a personal research work started about 20 years ago (https://www.researchgate.net/project/AN-EXCEL-BASED-TOOL-TO-GENERATE-SCRATCH-SCRIPTS-AND -TEACH-THE-BASICS-OF-PROGRAMMING). The emphasis is placed on the importance of the method with respect to the tool, promoting Computational Thinking among young people through a wise and original use of spreadsheets.

Well sir,

From perspective from being a fresher in computer science i will always prefer C to start with. I started with C in 2017 and now when I have a better knowledge of programming and knowledge of judging a language, I think python is the best language to switch.

So, I will prefer C to start with, just to have the taste of environment of programming and then take python as the go to weapon.

At last thank you for your question.

I'd reverse that and go for python first and C second, depending on the level of the student. Python hides typechecking, C's typechecking, though minimal, is explicit. Types are dependent on computer architecture and advanced numerics, which may be a bit much for beginning programmers. Python also is (possibly) more portable and offers a greater number of libraries.

I would also say Python first. The learning curve is very forgiving for beginners and it is quite intuitive. And indeed there are many useful Python packages in various scientific domains including machine learning (sklearn, Tensorflow, PyTorch).

As usual, it depends on your goal. If it is only to learn a programming language, I would go for Python. It has so many libraries or is usable in almost any field that you can adapt it to your needs.

Now if you have a specific goal like Data Science, Machine Learning, making a specific program, then the answer may change, but there is a reason why nowadays in schools they start teaching Python now.

When first introducing programming what is most important is how it is taught rather than the language - getting the core concepts and the development of problem solving, logic, firmly embedded - and checking their understanding through lots of practical activities. I have taught programming to those unfamiliar with it using a variety of languages: C, C#, Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic and other - and have seen great feedback and success with all of them.

Thank you all for your answers.

The last answer @James says core concepts are what matters, which I totally agree. However, the tool surely matters in my view alongside the core logic and other basics. We can't easily apply the concept of linked lists using Fortran, I believe. Though, on the opposite, using Python, as a more recent language, it may be somehow the reverse. However, the libraries of python is an extra clutter to the beginning learner who may skip basics and try to reap immediately their benefits.

@Meza. You are right, it will differ by the goal. My goal in this question is the student who need to be developed to adapt to all current and future programming languages and not to a specific field.

@ Schindler and @ Schaefer .....

Thank you. You recommend Python first. Yes, that will be helpful to make use of the simplifications Python offers. However, I believe this would be useful only for students who are not expected to be in need to program at wider range where the architecture, for example, matters such as in embedded programming.

@ Md. Arif Istiek Neloy . Thank you for sharing your experience as a learner. You agree that fresh students better start with C while Python is the best to switch to later.

Python is the best. It is simple and fast.

I agree with Md. Arif Istiek Neloy

I also have the experience of starting with C and even helping as a teacher assistant.

It is a very complete language to start. It allows you to really learn how a code instruction works, which in other languages you can skip simply using a function.

When you start programming with the C language, and you switch to another language learning becomes very easy and understandable.

A very good way is to continue the student with Python, so that he can take advantage of his level of abstraction.

I agree with Md. Arif Istiek Neloy and José Alejandro Castro

I think Machine Language and Assembly is the fundamental programming language to learn so that the young programmer is able to appreciate how to perform a dry run before compiling a program and debug program from seeing data pattern displaying on the green screen.

Hi, I’d like to point out here some ideas on the matter, accrued over more than 30 years spent in CS training in k9-13 students. First of all, Phil James (with others) is clearly right on saying . Nevertheless, coding in a Programming Language is a step which has to follow the most important ones, i.e. those leading to the pseudo-language version of the solution (the algorithm), supported at least by a fairly detailed “data table” including the most meaningful problem data. Given the above, my idea here is that not every language is good for beginners, as the last decade trend towards Block-Based PL shows. The most motivating factor on learning software development is seeing a program running right but debugging a C program can be a much more frustrating experience compared to other languages, especially if trainers address students towards somewhat cryptic constructs. For example, who could say that the equivalent statements 1) i++; 2) i := i+1; 3) change i by 1; 4) increase i by 1; are all “user friendly” and/or preferred at the same level? Novices would probably grade them from 4) to 1), but exactly the inverted order for professionals. Also, how much proper it can be let novice use a language addressed to professionals? In my opinion, they would both complain, though for opposite reasons! In the last 10-15 years a lot of colleagues (educators in CS) and authors of school textbooks in the field drop out Pascal as a PL from their CS courses, a language considered for decades one of the best ones ​​to learn programming (please note, it’s embedded in Borland Delphi too, the well-known first-level Rapid Application Development environment!): incidentally, I let use Pascal recently as a pseudo-language in my courses (a very good expedient for several aspects!) and many of the persons I mentioned earlier (i.e. educators and authors) often behave the same way, although they mask it more or less markedly (for example, by localizing the language for the country, a very questionable approach today... ). Let me ask it now, have the basics of computer programming changed so much nowadays? I cannot agree with this assumption, sure! Variables, loops, conditionals, arrays, functions and so on, must be in every programmer's toolbox, regardless of the type of application they develop. Hence, any language that makes them easier to understand is good for the purpose. A good didactic strategy often adopted in the introductory courses (the current norm in my institution) is to explain the basics in pseudo-language and mapping them into several different languages (possibly including at least one non-textual language, such as MIT Scratch or any other BBPL), highlighting similarities and differences between them.

To conclude, the ideas presented here are the subject of a personal research work started about 20 years ago (https://www.researchgate.net/project/AN-EXCEL-BASED-TOOL-TO-GENERATE-SCRATCH-SCRIPTS-AND -TEACH-THE-BASICS-OF-PROGRAMMING). The emphasis is placed on the importance of the method with respect to the tool, promoting Computational Thinking among young people through a wise and original use of spreadsheets.

For a student who is just getting started in a programming environment.. I'd recommend python since it is easy to understand and does not involve alot of rules and guidelines.It is a simple code programming language.Personally I started programming using C++ and later on tried Python and found out that it is much simpler for a starter compared to C++ . However different people have different opinions.

Well firstly, the students need to be critical thinkers where they need to apply their analytical and mathematical skills in programming/coding that is working with algorithms with its own structure of coding whether that's C, C+ or Python or according to the curriculum at their stage of learning.

Python