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The reasons I recommend against HTML+Javascript+CSS are because they don't teach algorithms and data structures. If a kids learns HTML first he/she will not now

The reasons I recommend against HTML+Javascript+CSS are because they don't teach algorithms and data structures. If a kids learns HTML first he/she will not now anything about algorithms. To learn that she/she will have to move on to another language: javascript. Another reason is that those web language combos are forever being extended. There is no way children will be able to hold the entire language in their heads. Some people may not agree but even C's success is due to the ability of one person to remember the entire language all at once. Still another reason is compatibility or the way those languages behave in different browsers. Everyone has his own proprietary css extensions these days, what will a kid need to learn next? JQuery? Ext-JS? Start with simlicity. Learn a language that really offers instant gratification, with graphics, sound,and file keywords included. Have them learn BASIC. They'll perfecly be able to move on from there.

ScottWhigham 14y ago
If a kids learns HTML first he/she will not now anything about algorithms. That's just weird to me. Do you have children? Did you teach them this way, it worked successfully, and now you're passing that information along as a public service? Or are you just talking on a public forum about something in which you have no first hand knowledge? I'm always suspicious of taking advice from someone who just thinks something should work rather than from someone who has actually practiced what they are preaching (and, in particular, I'm suspicious of "parenting advice" from someone who doesn't have children). HN seems to be full of "This is what my parents did for me and I turned out okay, therefore this must be the right way" type of talk. Start with simlicity. Learn a language that really offers instant gratification, with graphics, sound,and file keywords included. I fail to understand how HTML/JS/CSS does not meet this guideline. I don't understand why you think that programming in BASIC is a better start than JS. JS has algorithms and all the basic implementation that something like BASIC is going to have. There is no way children will be able to hold the entire language in their heads. There is no way you or I at our age can keep the "entire language" of any sufficiently advanced language in our head. I don't see how this matters. Sorry - I just don't like it when someone positions them self as an expert during a reply yet there is no context provided therein that would improve/prove their position.
- dragonbonheur 14y ago
  I've learned by meself when I was 12, I had no one to teach me. It took me two days to understand BASIC and one week to adapt to DBASE III+ As for context, says Paul Graham: "Use succinct languages. More powerful programming languages make programs shorter. And programmers seem to think of programs at least partially in the language they're using to write them. The more succinct the language, the shorter the program, and the easier it is to load and keep in your head. You can magnify the effect of a powerful language by using a style called bottom-up programming, where you write programs in multiple layers, the lower ones acting as programming languages for those above. If you do this right, you only have to keep the topmost layer in your head." More here:http://www.paulgraham.com/head.html http://www.paulgraham.com/head.html How many months does it take to master the HTML+JS+CSS mess?

ScottWhigham 14y ago

If a kids learns HTML first he/she will not now anything about algorithms. That's just weird to me. Do you have children? Did you teach them this way, it worked successfully, and now you're passing that information along as a public service? Or are you just talking on a public forum about something in which you have no first hand knowledge? I'm always suspicious of taking advice from someone who just thinks something should work rather than from someone who has actually practiced what they are preaching (and, in particular, I'm suspicious of "parenting advice" from someone who doesn't have children). HN seems to be full of "This is what my parents did for me and I turned out okay, therefore this must be the right way" type of talk. Start with simlicity. Learn a language that really offers instant gratification, with graphics, sound,and file keywords included. I fail to understand how HTML/JS/CSS does not meet this guideline. I don't understand why you think that programming in BASIC is a better start than JS. JS has algorithms and all the basic implementation that something like BASIC is going to have. There is no way children will be able to hold the entire language in their heads. There is no way you or I at our age can keep the "entire language" of any sufficiently advanced language in our head. I don't see how this matters. Sorry - I just don't like it when someone positions them self as an expert during a reply yet there is no context provided therein that would improve/prove their position.

dragonbonheur 14y ago
I've learned by meself when I was 12, I had no one to teach me. It took me two days to understand BASIC and one week to adapt to DBASE III+ As for context, says Paul Graham: "Use succinct languages. More powerful programming languages make programs shorter. And programmers seem to think of programs at least partially in the language they're using to write them. The more succinct the language, the shorter the program, and the easier it is to load and keep in your head. You can magnify the effect of a powerful language by using a style called bottom-up programming, where you write programs in multiple layers, the lower ones acting as programming languages for those above. If you do this right, you only have to keep the topmost layer in your head." More here:http://www.paulgraham.com/head.html http://www.paulgraham.com/head.html How many months does it take to master the HTML+JS+CSS mess?