I don't believe that JavaScript is a good language to start with. It has many concepts that aren't universal and constraints that a beginner should not have to bother about. It can have a complex workflow because of closures and lambdas. Why not start with Python or Ruby or even Pascal ?
The questions you present about "general software engineering" have IMHO not much to do with general programming, instead they are very specific to web programming. They are important to understand if you want to code in JavaScript which is why I don't think it is an easy language for a beginner.
That's where the beauty lies. Core programming concepts are the same, no matter the language. Algorithms will always be algorithms. Have in mind I wrote the article highly opinionated. It's perfectly fine if you do not agree with me.
JavaScipt has been chosen by universities to be the programming language for their 101 courses. People much smarter than me have made that choice. Closures and lambdas are present in every higher level language but only used if you really need them. Beginners don't even have to know they exist until they start facing difficult enough problems to urge them to explore.
To be honest, I'm quite sad not to be more proficient with Python or C++. Both are awesome languages. If you ever write something about them, I'll be sure to read it.
I guess I have a vision of JavaScript that might be flawed, I wasn't aware universities used it to teach students. I personally learned with PHP (which was fine to learn, but I wouldn't advise it) then was teached Pascal. C is fine too, but I would not consider C++ as a language for beginners though.
I liked your article, we need to help beginners get into the field and learn how to make good software :) What you explain is accurate and well presented. My previous comment on the language was unimportant because I believe the choice of a language is a matter of taste.
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I don't believe that JavaScript is a good language to start with. It has many concepts that aren't universal and constraints that a beginner should not have to bother about. It can have a complex workflow because of closures and lambdas. Why not start with Python or Ruby or even Pascal ?
The questions you present about "general software engineering" have IMHO not much to do with general programming, instead they are very specific to web programming. They are important to understand if you want to code in JavaScript which is why I don't think it is an easy language for a beginner.
That's where the beauty lies. Core programming concepts are the same, no matter the language. Algorithms will always be algorithms. Have in mind I wrote the article highly opinionated. It's perfectly fine if you do not agree with me.
JavaScipt has been chosen by universities to be the programming language for their 101 courses. People much smarter than me have made that choice. Closures and lambdas are present in every higher level language but only used if you really need them. Beginners don't even have to know they exist until they start facing difficult enough problems to urge them to explore.
To be honest, I'm quite sad not to be more proficient with Python or C++. Both are awesome languages. If you ever write something about them, I'll be sure to read it.
Cheers man, hope you liked the article. :)
I guess I have a vision of JavaScript that might be flawed, I wasn't aware universities used it to teach students. I personally learned with PHP (which was fine to learn, but I wouldn't advise it) then was teached Pascal. C is fine too, but I would not consider C++ as a language for beginners though.
I liked your article, we need to help beginners get into the field and learn how to make good software :) What you explain is accurate and well presented. My previous comment on the language was unimportant because I believe the choice of a language is a matter of taste.