I agree with the majority of the article except for stressing the importance of Ada. What a horrible language. Specific reasons:
1) Ada is a defense industry language from a long time ago and is dying. Nobody outside of defense uses it. Even within the government, while existing systems require maintenance, the language is not being used for new applications.
2) It does not teach the basic concepts well. It has the flexibility of Pascal in the sense of allowing anything you want to do. I am of the opinion that a stronger definition of syntax and strictly defined primitive types would make for a better experience when transitioning into other languages.
As to the rest of the article, I agree with the majority of it. The general trend should be that, while languages like C# and Java have a great place in understanding OOP, they do not help build a foundation in some respects because they are too high level. It is much easier to shift from C/C++ than the other way around. C/C++ require more work than C#/Java because less is done for you as it is less abstracted; school should present you with the hardest of circumstances as it is easier to adjust. Additionally, note that languages that do not fit directly with the curriculum of a particular class should be part of a general programming languages course. This course would include languages like C#, Fortran, Pascal, SmallTalk, etc. Note that as well, even though LabVIEW is intended more for engineering applications, it would be good to teach graphical programming in schools so that students will at least know that it exists.
It is important to note that while learning programming is important, it's more important to learn Computer Science (different) in school.
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I agree with the majority of the article except for stressing the importance of Ada. What a horrible language. Specific reasons: 1) Ada is a defense industry language from a long time ago and is dying. Nobody outside of defense uses it. Even within the government, while existing systems require maintenance, the language is not being used for new applications. 2) It does not teach the basic concepts well. It has the flexibility of Pascal in the sense of allowing anything you want to do. I am of the opinion that a stronger definition of syntax and strictly defined primitive types would make for a better experience when transitioning into other languages. As to the rest of the article, I agree with the majority of it. The general trend should be that, while languages like C# and Java have a great place in understanding OOP, they do not help build a foundation in some respects because they are too high level. It is much easier to shift from C/C++ than the other way around. C/C++ require more work than C#/Java because less is done for you as it is less abstracted; school should present you with the hardest of circumstances as it is easier to adjust. Additionally, note that languages that do not fit directly with the curriculum of a particular class should be part of a general programming languages course. This course would include languages like C#, Fortran, Pascal, SmallTalk, etc. Note that as well, even though LabVIEW is intended more for engineering applications, it would be good to teach graphical programming in schools so that students will at least know that it exists. It is important to note that while learning programming is important, it's more important to learn Computer Science (different) in school.