"Principles not products". That's what I call it. I've always taught that way and my students love it. At least the ones smart enough to realise they're being

"Principles not products". That's what I call it. I've always taught that way and my students love it. At least the ones smart enough to realise they're being given a proper ground up education. We do every step the hard way, breaking it down with a historical context, a rationale and exposure to several different basic tools that do that fundamental job. They get to see the continuum between logic and arithmetic operators and a full application stack. Right at the end I let them loose on full-blown commercial toys - and they love that too, because they can now see the value those polished applications add. They can also see what is just cosmetic fluff and marketing patter. It's only the weaker students who are quick to "demand the latest shiny industry standard gizmos... because, like, jobs". And of course the management twonks who've been blinded by vendor lobbying and kickbacks. Truth is, modern software is so slick any fool can grab a ready-made plugin-o-matic that thinks for you and wipes your arse, but without understanding principles the moment they change the GUI you're completely lost.