Thread: Intro Course for CS Major: C++?

My son is currently taking his first programming course as a computer science major in this his sophmore collegiate year. He's struggling with the course, Introduction To C++.

I have a programming background myself, and based on my "old school" knowledge it just seems to me that C++ is an "advanced" programming language and shouldn't be the introductory course to computer programming. It seems to me that a simpler language, perhaps C, would be more appropriate to introduce novice students to the logic behind programming.

He's never taken any previous programming courses anywhere. I feel somewhat guilty now that he is struggling because I thought of, but never got around to, introducing him to some programming at home before he even got to college. Now he's struggling, got stuck with a bum tutor (according to him), and is even considering changing his major to protect his GPA.

My question is: Shouldn't they start with an easier programming language?

He says he has inquired and there is no other Intro course for CS majors, and there are no prerequisites for this Intro C++ course.

It doesn't make sense to start with such an advanced language. Do non-CS majors also start with C++? If not, what are they assuming CS majors know above & beyond what non-CS majors know? Something doesn't seem right to me.

Which university is teaching a course like 'Intro to C++' as a computer science course? That seems very odd to me. The first computer science course would normally be on data structures, alorithms, recursion, proof correctness, and abstraction/encapsulation.

The programming language that's used isn't too important to instantiate these computer science concepts, but Java or Scheme/Haskell are the most commonly used these days, from what I understand.

C++ is probably better than C because of the strong typing and the introduction to object-oriented structures that are inherent in all commercially used imperative languages today. C will only vex the student into endless hours of tracking down weird malloc errors and accidentally recast pointer types, which is a waste, and is entirely inappropriate for an intro class.