I am just getting started on teaching python as a first language. (The same course at the same university that Andy is teaching this fall, actually.) Since the course is actually a breadth introduction to computing as well as an introduction to programming, time is of the essence.
My decision was to simply tell students that fractional numbers on computers are tricky business, and that if they plan to go much further they would have to learn about them, but that I was going to stick to integers. fwiw I find this to be the most cognitively accessible approach. The advantage of Python as a first language is the minimization of intellectual clutter. We can start with procedural knowledge and move to semantic knowledge gradually. Avoiding the complexities of the representation of fractional numbers seems like the best approach at this stage. If I had a bit longer I would still not introduce floats or decimals or infinite precision or fraction objects or any other variation common or obscure at least for the first few weeks. I think it's best, at least for didactic purposes, that there is a handy division operator that is closed on the integers, and I'd prefer to maintain the existing behavior of operator.div when presented with two ints. mt _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
