The key is to learn programming, and not worry about the language too much.
Agree with Jon Harrop , I think teaching C is basically a good idea. It teaches you how the computer actually works, or at least a software representation of how it actually works.
Yes, there are easier languages than C, but what benefit does it bring to the student if a University shields from the reality that programming can actually be kind of difficult?
Besides, learning a language is easy, it’s learning to program that is hard. In college it doesn’t really matter if you learn C, or C#, or Python or whatever, you’ll learn probably 5 or 10 other languages by the end of your career. The key is to learn programming, and not worry about the language too much.
We don’t learn C so that we only work in C our whole careers, learning another language will come easy to you in later years.
However, I do think there is huge value in learning C as a route to learning what is actually going on when programs run. Python suits lots of tasks, and beginners too, but if you’re in university you need to get out of that beginner mindset ASAP, and that means not avoiding stuff because it’s hard.
