Learning about assembly/to-the-metal coding is probably not the best way to learn programming. "OP? LOAD? REGISTER? PC LOAD LETTER? What's a word? There's only 8 registers? Does that mean I can only save 8 things? What do you mean I have to push things into a stack?"
This is why most people advocate learning python or ruby. You don't have to deal with the underlying manipulation of the computer until you've decided you actually like programming.
I don't know about "most people" but I think a machine like this DCPU-16 is better than learning Python or Ruby. Those languages are huge and full of complexity. With a 16-bit machine with a tiny instruction set, the student actually has a chance of getting the feeling, 'I know everything there is to know about this system'. And that connects to a piece of wisdom I love from Design Principles Behind Smalltalk: "If a system is to serve the creative spirit, it must be entirely comprehensible to a single individual".
And there's a certain concreteness to such a machine. The mental model has no vagueness at all. You could imagine building a physical copy of it and playing the role of CPU--adding small numbers, moving data between registers and memory, etc. I've played with this idea myself before of using an invented 16-bit machine as a teaching device.
Maybe it's just a case of personal differences, but as a starting programmer, I would have been extremely excited about a simple programmable thing that I can fully understand and use to do things within a game world. Python is cool too but it's overwhelming. There are learn-Python books that are thicker than most of my university textbooks.
Consider that a while back, that was the only way to learn programming.
Personally, I think Python is a great way to teach programming, because it allows us to get to concepts quickly. Accidental complexity is at a minimum, and the inherent complexities of programming become the focus. But, even thought that's my personal preference (based on some experience; I've used Java and C++ to teach programmers and had to explain away accidental complexities), I hesitate to say it's best because I have no evidence backing up that claim.
What's important is learning certain concepts, perhaps the most important of which is algorithmic thinking. That is, knowing what result you want, knowing how you start, and being able to reason through how to get from the start condition to your desired result, step-by-step. What helps is when the result you get is something you care about. I can easily see that for some people, getting something to behave a certain way in a videogame will be a more compelling result than others.
That depends. The Knuth MIX architecture is much like the architecture Notch has in mind. But the more recent MMIX architecture is far more like a modern 64 bit RISC system. In fact, it does look odd that Notch would prefer such an old behemoth nowadays.
An MMIX like ISA would open up the world for compilers much more. With this, it looks like people should be confined to writing simple stuff - which is kinda the point but still rather sad.
I'm sure part of the goofiness of this ISA is just that Notch wants to keep it nerdy and somewhat retro, but I wonder if he also wants to keep compilers from getting out of hand; like, he wants people writing (at least sometimes) in assembly.
Works for a lot of people. I started with FORTRAN and quickly went to assembly. I recommend doing some sort of assembly for anyone serious about programming.
I disagree. I recently designed and implemented virtualized image servers (real ones coming once the Requisition request comes through) for faster image serving. This was basically unheard of by anyone I work with however by having read the http specs I was able to give a report on why we wanted to serve images in parallel. It's easy to dismiss Web Developers as (X)HTML/CSS, Javascript & Php. In reality there are FAR, FAR, FAR more uses for programming competent Web Developers. Shoot, even having a good grasp of fundamental Computer Science helps with understanding Php's array's (or lack-thereof ;) ).
Now for practical usage? Sure Assembly is probably a waste of time. I still haven't found a real way to implement that wouldn't be. But the fundamental understanding of how a computer works, how decisions are made so close to the machine enhanced my understanding about programming which in turn enhanced my understanding about how I wanted to develop and engineer, even for the web.
I am not so sure. To be a good web developer, you need to have a familiarity beyond css, js, html, and the framework you are using. You should be able to understand the underlying protocol, for example, what do the HTTP headers look like? How are they separated? How can SQL injection be dependent on header contents? You can unknowingly build a vulnerable web app if you don't understand the mechanics.
And in my mind, "serious about programming" extends beyond building web apps.
having a low level understanding of program flow can help in many situations. If you are an extremely lucky programmer, you might be able to live your life only in high level languages, but most that I have met had to get down in the plumbing eventually. Understanding asm will help with that.
This is why most people advocate learning python or ruby. You don't have to deal with the underlying manipulation of the computer until you've decided you actually like programming.