Every developer has written “Hello, World!”.
Most of us don’t remember the syntax, but we remember the moment it worked.
I didn’t understand my first program. But when “Hello, World!” appeared on the screen, I knew one thing: the computer listened. That was enough.
Calling it pointless misses the point.
It’s Not About the Output
“Hello, World!” doesn’t teach you how to print text. It teaches you that you can:
- Write instructions
- Run them
- Get predictable results
That feedback loop is the foundation of programming. Everything else builds on it.
Beginners Need Proof, Not Complexity
Throwing beginners into frameworks and tooling is a fast way to lose them. “Hello, World!” removes the noise and delivers a quick, undeniable win.
One line.
One result.
Confidence.
Where It Actually Came From
The tradition started in 1972, when Brian Kernighan used “hello, world” in an internal Bell Labs memo (A Tutorial Introduction to the Language B). It later appeared in a 1974 C tutorial, and finally reached mass adoption through The C Programming Language (1978), co-authored by Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie.
That book made it the first program for an entire generation of developers.
Why We Still Use It
Even experienced devs still start with “Hello, World!” when learning a new language or setting up an environment. It’s the fastest way to answer one question:
Does this work?
Final Thought
“Hello, World!” isn’t outdated—it’s foundational.
If you think it’s useless, you’re not more advanced. You’ve just forgotten what starting feels like.
Top comments (0)