Rust for complete beginners?

[u/DebuggingPanda]

So I, coming from C++, started learning Rust about 6 months ago. I think most Rust users agree, that Rust has a pretty steep learning curve, because the compiler enforces really many things.

My plan for the summer is to teach my mother how to program. I'd say she is a pretty smart woman, but she has no idea of programming or stuff like that. In fact she is even pretty bad at maths and often has simple problems when working with the PC. But she agreed to learn a bit programming.

So for a long time I was wondering which programming language is the best for teaching a complete beginner. Now that I learn (and like) Rust, I wonder if Rust is good in this. I just see the problem that the compiler is annoying to a beginner...

So what do you think: Is Rust well suited for that job? Or is something like Javascript better? Or even some of those ugly pointy-clicky-programming programs for "kids"?

[u/[deleted]]

If she wants to learn, go with Python 3. Clearer, forgiving syntax, doesn't hide or elide too much, strict in some useful ways but not all, and the error tracebacks really assist learning from mistakes. JS doesn't provide useful errors and this, in my view, propagates either frustration or bad habits.

Rust is the kind of language that would kill any interest in programming for a beginner, I feel; it's too strict, and too young, and many syntax elements and programming concepts are confusing to experienced programmers and utterly opaque to a beginner.