Prolog's only a waste of time if you let it be. It's a good introduction to declarative programming and the logic implicit in all other programming. Also, yes,

Prolog's only a waste of time if you let it be. It's a good introduction to declarative programming and the logic implicit in all other programming. Also, yes, I'll throw Python out there as the best beginning intro language we have now. It's syntax-light compared to the other languages teachers know, familiar to instructors coming from a Java or C++ background, and, best of all, wasn't designed as a teaching language, so it isn't crippled in bizarre ways. However, I also think that teaching multiple languages is essential, and they should all be from different families or at least have different features, so Haskell, Prolog, Lisp, Forth, and, yes, C++ should all be in the program.