Why Every Developer Should Start Programming with C

betterprogramming.pub

9 points·amarabandu··4 comments

I started with BASIC, then machine, assembly, and finally C. This made the most sense to me that made me appreciate every step along the way. Since then I've worked with so many languages with Go/Java/C# being the middle-of-the-road good enough but always wanting more.

Not everyone needs this low-level understanding, most developers don't need to worry about instruction cycles or cache lines, and sizes.

A more modern path could be python/ruby (or Elixir?), Go/Java/C#, Scheme/Clojure, OCaml/F#. Js/TypeScript may be necessary but not a good introduction.

Nothing but dubious and unsubstantiated claims. I find this style of article quite annoying, but I also feel kind of sad about criticizing it publicly.

Perhaps, but the writer does seem to properly represent the mindset per C and C++:

"...learning C++ is not the same as learning C"

Agreed, but this is a prescriptive piece. It’s not inconceivable someone trying to become a good software engineer would be convinced by articles like this one. Doubtful this particular specimen gets any traction; singling out the author with more detailed criticism feels unnecessarily cruel.

Generally, many software engineers work on stuff that affect life, limb, or livelihood. My belief is we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard than “I think this thing, I have no proof, now everybody do it.” Famous names have made careers doing this (sometimes badly contradicting themselves along the way). I find it to be deeply counterproductive.

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