A Framework for the Assessment of First Programming Language

Choosing an appropriate programming language to be taught as the first programming course in the computer science and computer engineering disciplines has been a debatable issue. Many languages have been practiced for this purpose, namely, Fortran, Pascal, Modula-2, Ada, C, C++ and Java. However, in terms of teaching, each language has its own pitfalls and shortcomings as first programming language. For example, some languages are successor of another language and adapt legacy which results into ambiguous features, some are not widely accepted in the industry. Furthermore, academic institutions are forced to use these languages in syllabus due to industry relevance. A big challenge is that no criteria or de-facto standard exists for the assessment of first programming language. Therefore, in this paper we propose a framework for the suitability analysis of first programming language for the software engineering discipline. This framework will help in assessing the suitability of any programming language as first programming language in the computer science and computer engineering disciplines.