C is good for teaching a simplified machine model, one with a distinction between stack and heap, pointers, and a purely sequential execution model. This is enh

C is good for teaching a simplified machine model, one with a distinction between stack and heap, pointers, and a purely sequential execution model. This is enhanced if you use it to program an Arduino or similar trivial hardware, collapsing the division between hardware and software to one piece of hardware (the single-board computer) and one piece of software (the code the student wrote) and nothing else. C, in short, gives a good way to control actual hardware without having to introduce students to the complexities of actual hardware. Python is good for teaching algorithms and OO design, precisely because it allows students to focus on the algorithm while not having to slow down the course with memory management. In both cases, the idea is clear: Only teach one hard thing at a time, and then build.