I had the pleasure to actually learn Pascal (Delphi actually) at school. I think it is a awesome teaching language. Though it also showed the problem with teac

I had the pleasure to actually learn Pascal (Delphi actually) at school. I think it is a awesome teaching language. Though it also showed the problem with teaching languages: The students were not that eager on it. They would have preferred a languages with better job prospects. As motivation is the key for success to learning, yeah sometimes the language that offers the quickest benefits is a good choice. The strength of Python is that it has great libraries in very trendy fields that allow to get stuff done with very little knowledge. That is why both Python and JS (easiest to get a job) are good beginner languages. (That really hurts me to write as learning should not be solely focused on external rewards but such is the world currently) That said, if I were to choose a language to teach programming then Lua would be the perfect candidate. It avoids the syntax pitfalls of Python as well as having much lower complexity while still being very powerful. Plus really great for gamedev so many motivating examples.