3 Jan
2012
3 Jan
'12
12:14 p.m.
On 3 January 2012 04:16, Toby Thain <toby at telegraphics.com.au> wrote:
On 02/01/12 10:00 PM, Mouse wrote:
I'm not convinced that's a problem.
Scheme has no more theoretical load than BASIC.
O_o So speaketh a *highly* intelligent, perhaps near-genius-level,
natural programmer.
I have only read a tiny little bit about Scheme but it is virtually
impenetrable to me - and I have years of programming experiences,
albeit poor quality programming, and have been competent in 4 or 5
languages: umpteen BASICs, Pascal, Fortran, C shell, and arguably
rudimentary C. I have yet to find an explanation of the lambda
calculus that is remotely comprehensible to me, as a smart, educated
man with extremely rich and deep IT experience.
Seriously, most people are not very smart. BASIC has a fairly low
entry level - the learning curve is modest. The reason that most of
the other "teaching languages" designed to replace it haven't worked
out on anything like the same scale. (E.g. Logo, Scheme)
Concepts such as local versus global variables, scope, recursion and
so on are complex, difficult stuff unless someone is both very very
smart and deeply embedded in computational and mathematical "culture".
Any language which puts these front and centre is quite simply /too
hard/ for mere mortals to learn.
--
Liam Proven ? Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven
MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven
Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884
I consider BASIC to be an excellent beginner's introduction to "what
is a program?", etc., so long as they are exposed to other languages
immediately after grasping the basic principles.
Well, there is the "small" problem that BASIC syntax, data types, and
control structures relate poorly to modern languages and even less to
powerful abstractions. What's wrong with Scheme? ?Or at worst,
Python?
The same thing that was wrong with the New Math: you don't dump the
full load of theory on a beginner, not unless you want a very confused
beginner, or you have the incredible luck to get a Ramanujan or Knuth
as a student (and if so, honestly, the best thing anyone can do is to
get the hell out of the way).