I have zero evidence that this is true. My personal experience is that after having fought with the limitations of BASIC, I enjoyed the power of C: pointers, t

I have zero evidence that this is true. My personal experience is that after having fought with the limitations of BASIC, I enjoyed the power of C: pointers, that most students struggle with, were fresh air for me. On the contrary, I was exposed to Pascal after C, and hated it: haw can you tolerate self- inflicted limitations when you know that there's something better out there? What I learned is: always go from simple to complex, never backwards. So yes, BASIC is a great choice for absolute beginners.