Lua is used as built-in language in more and more apps. I use it on a daily basis for configuring and extending neovim

It just javascript - the bloat part is Implicitly there when talking about js/TS.

Not sure what you mean about your apples and pears comparison thing. Around here we have two levels of engineering - diploma engineer and civil engineer and that’s also the title you get.

Due to some countries not understanding this differentiation, we use the more common B.Sc for Diploma and M.Sc. for civil. You can then specialize in different areas like software, electronics, AI, health tech, and many more. So basically we have all the engineering courses + the special courses on top.

I hold an M.Sc. in software Engineering and it is not just a “software developer” but an actual masters degree from an engineering university. It’s a civil engineering degree with focus on software and systems that runs software (e.g embedded systems). It is a protected title by law in many countries. I think Americans started abusing the software Engineer title a decade or two ago and hence many think it is just a title anyone can use as they like.

Blocking stack overflow and start coding in C

Just know that title and salary does not always follow each other. I know many software engineers that are maybe only senior of title but hast the knowledge and responsibilities as a principal engineer - often with a salary higher than most other principals. It’s all about proving your worth - not about what your title claim about your worth. In many companies with offices in India they invent a fuckload of faux titles for the Indian employees - why? Because it is considered a failure of you do not get a new title every 2-3 years in IT in India. No extras comes with the title - just a word on the title line.

Scratch is great but make sure to let them know that they can see the actual code that runs underneath the drag-drop UI.

I can also recommend hourofcode.com where there are a ton of good tutorials ranging from scratch-level coding in a game setup (e.g. minecraft) to actual coding in python.

If Cron is too hard for you (it is really easy so I don’t really understand your problems) then check out runat instead. Simple and easy to use with all the features I would suspect you use in cron