Comment Re:consider Python (Score 1) 448
I really agree with that. I'am also teacher and have some experience with teaching programming.
First at all I have to clerify that the language itself, when teching the first programming language, is secondary, the main focus has to be teching HOW to program. The fact that we have to teach a programming language exist and become a major issue.
Lots of schools star with java, but bring oo concepts in a first programming course is to much for the students. This cause the students focus to mutch on the complexity of the language and limit them on the real purpose of the course. (java is to complex, and using everithing static, as I have ssen!, is not a good idea).
I started using Scheme, it is a really good candidate, and as is based on list it is exellent
when teaching list, recursive function and so on. But student don't like to learn exotic language that nobody use.
Python is really simple to understand, in a douple of hours it is possible to master the base of the language (forget the oo part), and student can really focus on the programming aspects of the course. More than this python is trendy, studens will relly appretiatite this. The doc is complete, and well mantained.
So I can tell you that next year I will use python.
Damiano Vedova
http://dual0.mine.nu/
First at all I have to clerify that the language itself, when teching the first programming language, is secondary, the main focus has to be teching HOW to program. The fact that we have to teach a programming language exist and become a major issue.
Lots of schools star with java, but bring oo concepts in a first programming course is to much for the students. This cause the students focus to mutch on the complexity of the language and limit them on the real purpose of the course. (java is to complex, and using everithing static, as I have ssen!, is not a good idea).
I started using Scheme, it is a really good candidate, and as is based on list it is exellent
when teaching list, recursive function and so on. But student don't like to learn exotic language that nobody use.
Python is really simple to understand, in a douple of hours it is possible to master the base of the language (forget the oo part), and student can really focus on the programming aspects of the course. More than this python is trendy, studens will relly appretiatite this. The doc is complete, and well mantained.
So I can tell you that next year I will use python.
Damiano Vedova
http://dual0.mine.nu/
