[geeks] Introductory programming language?

[Barry Keeney]

On Thu, 1 Sep 2011, Lionel Peterson wrote:

> BASIC was taught as a novelty, there was almost no expectation that BASIC
> students would ever learn a second language or program professionally...

   Well maybe this was/is true. For the first home computers and some
small companies it was one of the only languages out there.

   I worked for a company that sold commercial software that was in
compiled BASIC, but that was mostly in the 80's and early 90's.

> Serious students learned other languages, which varied, based on what
> decade you were in college...

    The biggest problem I have with how collages are teaching programming
is that they spend *WAY* too much time in a single language. The first
year of classes might be C/C++ or now Java. They become C/C++ (or Java) 
programmers and don't learn how to separate the *LOGIC* from the
language.

    They could be a good "C" programmer but try and teach them something
different and they can have brain lock. I had a student in my perl class
last spring who could write stuff in Visual BASIC but couldn't write
a Perl "for" loop to save his life (or his grade)! Even with lots of
extra help from me, tutors, other students. He learned VB and he knew
that but for him the language and the logic were the same. He is just
one example, I've seen lots more just like him.

    I've programmed in 10+ languages over the 30+ years, I even teach a
few of them at the local University, and I'm at the point where I don't 
write or work in a language, the code is in my head only as logic I 
translate it to what ever language I need to use.

    Programming should be first the logic but in order to separate
logic and language you should jump between lots of different languages
and BASIC would be a good one to use, if only because you'll never use
it for anything else. (classic interpreted BASIC with line numbers,
not that VB MicroSloth crap)

    My hope would be (and it's not going to happen) that a first year
CS student would learn 3-4+ languages (at least). They should also 
write 10,000+ lines of code in that same year... *BEAT* the logic in,
work the impurities out (languages)... By the time the first year was
over the simple logic of loops, variables, functions, input/output,
if's, etc should be second nature, Or their brains will be mush and
they'll take the short bus home drooling with their special friends....

    As for my background, I mostly teach Unix/Linux user skills classes
and The Unix/Linux system admin classes but I do teach simple Unix shell 
scripting and Perl as well. I could teach the C++/Java classes but they've
got others who can handle those so I don't bother with them.

Barry Keeney
Chaos Consulting
email barryk at chaoscon.com

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