On 1/8/08, Bryan Sant <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> For as much of a Java bigot as I am, I agree that Java (or any
> high-level language) shouldn't be the core of a curriculum. I started
> in C and wrote a lot of useful software with it. Starting with a
> low-level language will give a person a better base, and allow them to
> appreciate higher level languages.
>
> I don't think that C#/Java/Python/Perl would be bad 101 class
> languages. But you'd better introduce students to C and ASM shortly
> there after.
I taught C# in a 101 class. It sucked, and I think Java would be
equally sucky. There's too much stuff that you have to sweep under
the rug at first that gets in the way. ("What is "static void?" why
do I need this class Foo boilerplate? Even the distinction between
compile and run-time errors is confusing to novices.) I think Python
would work much better but I haven't been able to test that.
-Jonathan
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