Arguments for Learning C As Your First Programming Language
We could probably argue forever which programming language is the best to learn in the first place – it may depend on your goals and other considerations . Mac developer Evan Miller, however, makes a strong case for learning C in the first place, comparing it to learning how to operate a gear lever.
Python is user-friendly and in many ways a big step up from the C programming language.However, just as teaching teenagers to operate an automatic transmission is a practical guarantee that they never learn to stick to the stick, advising beginners to learn Python, programmers emerge. who never bother learning to program in C. badly.
He writes that knowledge of C is definitely not a requirement for a productive career in software, but that learning a language like Python is not challenging enough for people who can become better programmers – those who dig deeper and figure out how computers work:
C makes you build a mental model of what actually makes your computer when you run your program, just like a teenager discovers how the gear set, playing with the clutch. As you ask “ why” and keep looking for answers, your mental model will expand to cover the process model, CPU architecture, memory hierarchy, operating system, etc. It is this mental model, not the C language itself. will allow you to penetrate abstractions created by others and write programs that you never thought were possible.
Just food for thought. (By the way, the Harvard CS50 starts with C, which is an awesome but great experience.)
You can’t dig up | Evan Miller