I will make an analogy with music. If you are a complete novice in playing any musical instrument, I could teach you the three guitar chords that you need to le

I will make an analogy with music. If you are a complete novice in playing any musical instrument, I could teach you the three guitar chords that you need to learn to play "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountains" in two minutes. Depending on how long it takes you learn how to hold those chords and change between them, you could come from having no clue whatsoever to playing something recognizably related to a girl coming round the mountain inside two hours, perhaps even less depending on your learning speed. I could then teach you the other remaining five major chords, as well as how chord progressions work (play the 1st, then 4th then 5th chord in any progression for example), and once you've mastered how to hold and shift between all seven (in a week? a month? three months?), I'd now have you coming round the mountain in seven different keys. The advantage of this approach is that it gives you, the complete guitar/music novice, the satisfaction of being able to play something you and your dog recognize as music almost as soon as you start out. Are you an accomplished musician yet? NOT EVEN CLOSE. How far do you have to go? Very very far. Eventually, when you understand how music works in general and in particular on the guitar, you'll get to see how and why I taught you those three first chords, and why a I, IV, V chord progression works but a I, II, III makes your dog go for a walk on it's own. You'll be able to build your own chords! You'll even be able to argue with me about the correct name for some given chords! You'll be able to play melodies from chords, maybe even play both chords and melodies at the same time! [0] So, if you wanted to learn how to play guitar, would you want to first get a years worth of music conservatory work under your belt before you can belt out the simplest of tunes, or would you rather belt out "Coming Round the Mountain" in a few hours and then figure out later how she got round the mountain? Which one do you imagine will be more satisfying? I reckon it's the same with programming. Python may not teach me how to write my own "chords" or enable me to get into arguments (valid ones) about stuff, but it enables me to do something visible almost immediately, and I can take pleasure and motivation from that initial success. Then as I go on, I'll dig into how the stuff actually works and develop a better understanding, and this deeper understanding, just like in music, is a lifelong pursuit. Just as guitar masters are still learning, so are those of you who are, by any measure, programming masters. So I'd say, if you're teaching someone, or learning, start off with something where it's easy to produce something tangible easily. Then develop a deeper understanding as your progress demands this deeper understanding. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vCcZIARw9k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vCcZIARw9k