5 ms·

This is just as dumb as learning C first before picking up Python or Java, just to appreciate what those languages do for you.

paulriddle 8y ago
He is commiting basic fallacy which is when you discovered some benefit of learning something related to X, you want to tell everybody to learn it before they start learning X. It so common in programming discussions. It is a fallacy because oftentimes you can't appreciate something until you have a need for that or geniune curiosity.
- enriquto 8y ago
  I actually learnt assembler after a being able to code in a few high-level languages. Assembler was a sort of "liberation", an exhilarating feeling of understanding "so, that's it!". Even if you do not spend much time in assembler, being able to write a hello world and a program that prints prime numbers (or some graphical demo) is a valuable knowledge in computing. Programming without knowing anything about assembler is like driving without having ever opened the hood of your car and changed some oil. Of course, if you are a professional driver you will have specialist mechanicians that take care of all of it, but still it would be ridiculous if you could not do a few simple things.
  - paulriddle 8y ago
    > being able to write a hello world and a program that prints prime numbers (or some graphical demo) is a valuable knowledge in computing. You are so wrong. It is not valueable at all. If you are able to do this, then you're just capable of signaling that you have been exposed to assembly and familiar with the very basics of it. But how is it any useful? If you could find some intricate bug, or optimize a program in a considerable way based on insight you gained from reading it's assembly code that would have been very valueable indeed.
    - enriquto 8y ago
      You know, serious biologists must know some basic chemistry, and serious chemists must know some basic physics.
de_watcher 8y ago
First you need something like a simple Pascal. Otherwise you've got C that crashes all the time or you're stuck with some environment too opinionated about GC/references and a way of least resistance to put everything into its specific weird structures.
- pjmlp 8y ago
  Good option, ISO Extended Pascal has all the features as ISO C, while providing an easier path into learning about pointers and low level coding. Plus dialects like Object Pascal and Free Pascal provide a couple of niceties as well.

paulriddle 8y ago

He is commiting basic fallacy which is when you discovered some benefit of learning something related to X, you want to tell everybody to learn it before they start learning X. It so common in programming discussions. It is a fallacy because oftentimes you can't appreciate something until you have a need for that or geniune curiosity.

enriquto 8y ago
I actually learnt assembler after a being able to code in a few high-level languages. Assembler was a sort of "liberation", an exhilarating feeling of understanding "so, that's it!". Even if you do not spend much time in assembler, being able to write a hello world and a program that prints prime numbers (or some graphical demo) is a valuable knowledge in computing. Programming without knowing anything about assembler is like driving without having ever opened the hood of your car and changed some oil. Of course, if you are a professional driver you will have specialist mechanicians that take care of all of it, but still it would be ridiculous if you could not do a few simple things.
- paulriddle 8y ago
  > being able to write a hello world and a program that prints prime numbers (or some graphical demo) is a valuable knowledge in computing. You are so wrong. It is not valueable at all. If you are able to do this, then you're just capable of signaling that you have been exposed to assembly and familiar with the very basics of it. But how is it any useful? If you could find some intricate bug, or optimize a program in a considerable way based on insight you gained from reading it's assembly code that would have been very valueable indeed.
  - enriquto 8y ago
    You know, serious biologists must know some basic chemistry, and serious chemists must know some basic physics.

de_watcher 8y ago

First you need something like a simple Pascal. Otherwise you've got C that crashes all the time or you're stuck with some environment too opinionated about GC/references and a way of least resistance to put everything into its specific weird structures.

pjmlp 8y ago
Good option, ISO Extended Pascal has all the features as ISO C, while providing an easier path into learning about pointers and low level coding. Plus dialects like Object Pascal and Free Pascal provide a couple of niceties as well.