Basically disrespected From a financial point of view, BASIC programmers usually earn less than C programmers, even if they’re doing the exact same job. Part of the reason for this is that BASIC suffers from the perception that it’s a toy language — unsuitable for commercial use. Although that was true at one time, the BASIC language has evolved to the point where it can do practically anything C or other languages can do. Although you can use BASIC to create anything from satellite navigation systems to Wall Street financial trading programs, BASIC programmers will probably always get paid less, so you’ll need to know another language like C anyway, just to get paid more. Because BASIC programmers tend to get paid less than other programmers, many programmers feel that they might as well skip BASIC and just figure out C instead. C, it’s kind of hard There’s nothing wrong with studying C as your first programming language.
The biggest problem with C is that it’s not an intuitive language for beginners to learn and understand. With its cryptic syntax and odd use of symbols in place of actual words, understanding C means trying to figure out how to program while also wrestling with trying to figure out C, which essentially doubles the effort needed to know how to program a computer. As a result, many beginners get frustrated with C as their first programming language and wind up more confused than ever. Imagine how many people would want to drive a car if it meant knowing how to refine their own gasoline and build their own engine. Understanding C isn’t quite as difficult as refining gasoline or building a combustion engine, but it can seem that way, especially when you’re programming for the first time and you start with the C language.
So if you’re going to begin programming, you should definitely understand C eventually, but not necessarily as a first language. You don’t need to know BASIC, but BASIC can definitely help you understand how programming works. If you figure out BASIC first and then figure out C, you’ll know two of the most popular languages on the planet. The more programming languages you know, the better you can understand the benefits and drawbacks of all programming languages, including favorites like BASIC and C. Ultimately, the best programming language to discover first is the language that makes programming easiest and fun for you, whether that language is as simple as BASIC, as arcane as assembly language, or as obscure as SNOBOL.