"I've always had this image of MIT students that doesn't quite mesh with them needing a gentle introduction to programming, but maybe that's not really the case

"I've always had this image of MIT students that doesn't quite mesh with them needing a gentle introduction to programming, but maybe that's not really the case?" 6.001 from my experience does not in any way imply a student's focus on computer programming or software development. I've heard horror stories about people in completely unrelated majors ending up in that class and having their brains thoroughly melted. In my personal opinion, Python will be considerably more humane in that department.