It is particularly good for an introductory programming course to use something 'exotic', because that levels the field. Students who did some Basic/Pascal/PHP/

It is particularly good for an introductory programming course to use something 'exotic', because that levels the field. Students who did some Basic/Pascal/PHP/Ruby/... in high school, who often think they already know what programming is, are forced to take a fresh look. So the steeper start pays off.