D as a college language

[KingJoffrey]

On Saturday, 5 May 2018 at 15:13:34 UTC, Russel Winder wrote:
>
> In that C is a portable assembly language and Java is an 
> object-based language supporting some forms of polymorphism 
> they are very different, but they are far from extremes.

Come on, the difference between C and Java is far more than that.

The differences are so extreme actually, that undergrads deserve 
to be introduced to both.

Introducing python to undegrads is an abomination!

Introducing D to undergrads is problematic, since D is an 
unprincpled mix of pretty much everything - and more to come 
(which is good in some sense, and bad in another sense).

D is the swiss army knife of programming langauges. What is great 
about D, is how it integrates it all into one tool, making it 
easier to use those tools.

But IMO, D is not ideal for undergrads, as it's a little too 
unprincipled - and undergrads needs principled approaches when 
starting off.

In addition, the syntax of C and Java is not too different, so 
undergrads can switch from one to other other without too much 
drama. Imagine switching between C and Go, or Java and Go, or 
Java and Python etc..etc.

C and Java provide the greatest learning experience for 
undergrads, IMO, and at the least 'cognitive' cost.


>> 
>> Python should be banned! Cut of it's head!!
>
> Hopefully this is a troll, and you don't mean that.

No. I do mean it. Python has no place in an undergrad course.


>> As someone intimately involved with a university for many, 
>> many years, I have to wonder whether teachers are the problem, 
>> rather than the solution ;-)
>
> I can't speak with direct evidence for the last decade but 
> certainly till then far too many academics in the UK couldn't 
> really program well at all. The whole university system 
> militates against programming as something an academic is good 
> at. Fortunately there seem to be just enough academics who can 
> program well, at least in the top universities, that the 
> programming courses do actually get taught well. Of course with 
> programming moving from university to school (6 to 18) the 
> problem shifts from academics to school teachers.

The thing is, those teaching in uni are not really 'teachers'. 
They are usually just filling in time, to earn some extra money 
or whatever, while continuing their studies or research. Very few 
actually know how to 'teach', and even few are motivate to 
'teach'.

Undergrads can learn a great deal more from just buying some good 
books (or even a single good book).

Perhaps this is why programming should be 'taught' before 
students reach uni, and then they can focus on doing more 
productive things when they get to uni, rather than learning how 
to write a for loop, or move circle around the screen!