> I was going to suggest he introduce the lad to a wide range of > languages, especially non-procedural ones, and outliers such as Forth > and APL. It's much easier to grasp the concepts (and joy) of things > like functional programming if you're exposed to them before > confirmation bias limits your acceptance of the world.
Yes, of course that makes assumptions on my knowledge level as well.... which does not quite extend to Forth or APL. At this point my concern is more getting him interested in being more than just a consumer. He was astonished when I told him his iPad is a computer. I'd like him to understand why things work they way they do, that the cloud is not a magical thing, and that at a certain level an iPad=PC=5110=System/360. -Ali
