The University of Stanford’s Computer Science department has been teaching Java as its introductory computer science course since 2002 (before Java, the introductory course at Stanford was taught in C). As of this spring, Stanford has adopted a new language to teach students the basics of programming: JavaScript.
According to Eric Roberts, emeritus professor of computer science, the switch was necessary because “Java is showing its age (…), Javascript has taken its place as a web language”. It may not be long before other universities follow Stanford’s lead.
For some people this change is questionable. They wonder if a scripting language like JavaScript can teach the fundamentals of computer science. The comments thread at the bottom of Stanford’s official announcement is certainly interesting to read.