In several Twitter discussions today, I saw heated arguments happening, which at best, were attempting to deconstruct the technical factors behind the choice of languages a beginner should be exposed to. What should beginners learn? Where should a beginner get their start in programming?
People were getting defensive about their favorite languages being called out for shortcomings, as they do. It happens too often, and this sort of thing puts people off from (at the very least) getting publicly involved with languages they’re curious about. It doesn’t help. It’s a hostile space where people are trying to sell their story of “what’s right” and invoking the magic framing of “anti-intellectualism” or “pragmatism” (sometimes both at once!) when their views aren’t adopted. This. Doesn’t. Help.
Python, Ruby, Javascript. Erlang, Haskell, Ocaml. Go, Java, C. There’s a whole cornucopia of languages to choose from, each with varying degrees of freely available resources, varying degrees of accessibility to beginners, and even varying degrees of uptake in industry.
In all these discussions, what I did not see are consideration for the social factors that determine what a beginner can choose. Privilege. Particularly:
More important than the technical factors, is being able to choose a language that will allow one to live long enough and build a base from which to further progress. That’s a hard call to make, and it’s not made easier by a culture that punishes for “making the wrong choice”.
We live in a mountain of legacy software, and as we are now, as a society, with our current economic systems, it is valuable to have the tools to begin to chip away at those legacy arrangements. In the browser, this will frequently mean Javascript, for all its woes. In the web development space, a terrifying mix of Rails and Ruby (1.8 even).
Once one has stable income and can take risks, it’s fair to take some time to delve deeply into things like Haskell. That’s what I did. I worked nearly two years in industry, with a focus on Python and C++. I built up enough funds so I could at least risk six months focusing on Haskell, whether or not employment came my way (it did, and I moved to Austin, TX). I even had a short stint of doing Haskell professionally. I was only able to do this because I planned for it, and be safe enough in that pursuit.
I came from a background that wasn’t great financially. I did get to go to college (Masters, C.S.), so I do ride on that privilege. I got plenty of Linux/C/C++ experience while working through that degree, so the command line wasn’t a barrier for me. There’s so much to learn when it comes to computers. I still suffered intense impostor syndrome when I first started to navigate the Haskell space.
With all that said, back on point - please, can we consider what the beginner’s background is before getting defensive about what we should be teaching them?
Yes, it’s wonderful to be able to learn and work with Haskell and other functional languages. Yes, they’re even starting to gain more mindshare in industry. Still, even with the right teachers, even with the right books and resources, even with the right community, it still might not be the right first choice for everyone. That’s for an individual to decide with the information and resources they have at hand. Please keep that in mind.
Only an individual can choose for themselves what they want or need to learn, and the best we can do to help them on that path from beginner to mastery is to help them navigate this mess of tribal propaganda and help them find what they need. Reduce the noise, boost the signal, and listen, listen, listen.