I'm self taught. Started using Basic in the late 80's, moved onto C (out of neccassity. Wanted to make games and Basic wasn't going to give a good frame rate at 16MHZ). Then for more speed and to handle the graphics went to assembler and writing self-modifying code. It was good but large projects took forever.

I stopped programming for a couple of years and then I met Perl. Thought it looked funky with all the sigils and way to much context. Very confusing for a C programmer. "This does that unless it's Tuesday or High Tide". Then I started spending some time with it and was amazed at how fast it was to develop things that were really difficult in the lower levels. I'm a Perl disciple and proud of it. I'm still amazed at how much can be done in so little. I think my beginnings really help me appreciate how much Perl rocks.

The point of all this is personally, I think everyone should spend some time in the bowels of their computer. It gives you a much better handle on the overall picture and IMHO makes you a more competent programmer. Learning Perl first isn't neccassarily a bad thing but I could see how going from Perl to C (or ASM) would seem like a huge step back. Like going from a BMW to a kid's bicycle. So on the surface, it seems that starting on the lower rungs is a good thing. On the other hand, the monotony of trying to do anything interesting in C or ASM could also turn off some who might otherwise thrive with a higher level language. So I guess the answer is Yes and No IMHO.

-Lee

"To be civilized is to deny one's nature."