> OK, let's stick with 'return' unless someone comes up with a better word or > symbol. At least it is a common keyword in all the languages that students > are likely to move up to. Nothing to unlearn. >
Or "down to" -- most languages tend to be lower level than Python. A common next destination would be C++ using Zelle's book (posted news from the publisher recently), or Java. Or maybe next stop is Mathematica or MathCad, who knows. Depends if this is a CS sequence or a more open-ended course for many different majors. I think smart design puts a multiple-majors-friendly course up front, and does *not* use just one language, though it may center around one. At Princeton, our intro to programming included FORTRAN, PL/1, SNOBOL, APL, Assembler and a few others, all in the same course. Today, it might be Python, J, Scheme and... [fill in the blank]. > You are right. There is a "traditional order" of operations. Not in the J language. Too many operators to decide "precedence rules" so it's strictly right to left evaluation. "Depends on the notation" is the message to drum home. Don't get trapped in that wrong-headed view that any one notation is *the* notation. With Iverson, I classify math notations into two: machine-runnable and not machine-runnable. Since Mathematica, a lot more is now runnable, including using somewhat traditional notation, although this wasn't precise enough (too sloppy) and needed some fixing. The not-machine-executable stuff is probably more suitable for declared math majors, whereas those just getting their feet wet or planning a different career, would be better served by executable stuff. Calculators don't hack it. Kirby _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
