15 Aug
2001
15 Aug
'01
9:41 a.m.
"Jeffrey S. Sharp" wrote:
On Tue, 14 Aug 2001, Douglas Quebbeman wrote:
First language? No, I still think BASIC is best as a first language. And
before
I get yelled off the board, let me explain. Not all people are meant to
program.
BASIC is a perfect way to separate those that can program from those that
cannot. I can't imagine someone not "getting" BASIC , yet being a natural
born assmebly language or other language programmer.
Now, for those that get BASIC and find it limited or boring, fine, move on
to
C, Java, assembly or whatever.
Also, assembly language implies that you must first learn the computer
architecture to some degree. High-lievel languages have no such
prerequisite.
Eric
P.S. The bottom rung programmers develop in a pure Microsoft environment
and usually write 4GL scripts. And they hate Unix.
And I would not consider people writing in assembly language to be at
the bottom rungs
Right! I've always wondered why so many of the other programmers I have
met have held assembly language in such low esteem. Depending on the
particular make/model of processor you're dealing with, it can be
downright elegant.
I've always thought that one of the more simple assembly languages would
be a great 'first language' for someone wanting to learn how to program.
Who's with me?
--
Jeffrey S. Sharp
jss(a)subatomix.com