Comment The hard part of programming ... (Score 1) 799
People spend a lot of effort blathering about which programming language is best to use for teaching. But the hard part of programming is not the programming language. It's the logical thinking skills; the abstract concepts like function and algorithm and data structure and type; the reasoned approach to breaking a problem down and seeing algorithms and patterns; the ability to learn new tools such as a utility or an API and put them together usefully.
These things transcend language. Yes, you will probably use different algorithms or data structures in Python on a Linux box than in C on a microcontroller, but you will use largely the same sort of thinking skills. You will approach writing code differently in Lisp than in Java, but in both you will be combining known parts in a new structure to accomplish a task.
And it is these abstract skills -- especially the skill of abstracting, of recognizing and using patterns -- which separate those who learn to program well from those who do not. (And this is different again from being a successful professional programmer, which entails a quite different set of skills.)