Hiding what's going on (e.g. details related to real hardware like machine integers) is arguably pretty good for teaching a complete beginner about what this "c

Hiding what's going on (e.g. details related to real hardware like machine integers) is arguably pretty good for teaching a complete beginner about what this "code" thing even is. Though I guess the classic workaround for that is to carefully construct the course such that these details are revealed gradually, without being overwhelming.