I would recommend that newbies (here I mean newbies to programming in general, not just to Perl) learn higher-level languages such as Perl first, later getting into lower-level languages such as C only if they have the aptitude and desire for it

I disagree, I don't recommend that anyone learn perl as their first language. It's better, in my opinion, to start with a low-level language, learn how computers work, and then when the apprentice has a thorough grounding in the basics the master can let him loose with high-level tools like perl and java. C makes an excellent first language for someone wanting to be a programmer.

In my more old-gittish moments, I think that C is too high-level to get started with and that everyone should learn to program a simple processor like a Z80 or a 6502 in assembly language.

In reply to Re: Re: OT: Switching Sides by DrHyde
in thread OT: Switching Sides by Khansultant

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