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But as educational tooling is that not a fault in itself? Surely we should be preparing students to at least use some mainstream languages, rather than pouring their skills and time into something that has a niche market value?

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I think there's actually an argument for teaching students in something that isn't widely used/usable, as this (a) gives them the fundamentals but (b) essentially forces them to learn other more useful languages on their own.

As someone who had to use Eiffel, of all things, in college, I may be biased in this :)

IMO this is a limited view on what students need to learn to be valuable on the market. Delphi teaches you the value of experimentation through small feedback loops. For novices that just start programming this is critically important.

Absolutely, I don't entirely know what would be the best thing for students. In the end students should be taught to disrupt the industries they join not propel mainstream practices. So there is something to teaching them with more niche languages, that help them think differently to what is currently on the market! Thanks for sharing.

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