I agree that people should understand pointers, heap and stack. However, there's going to be drop outs from the class if these things are focused on too early. Of course, this is open to debate, which is why we have this type of healthy discussion. You might be right in your assumption that it's better to introduce these concepts earlier. In know that when I was in high school, these concepts were taught and served as a foundation for further learning. It's out of vogue now to teach these concepts to kids. But, you might be right. I need to think about this more. Thank you for your posts.