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From: dbcooper@violet.berkeley.edu.UUCP
Newsgroups: soc.college,comp.edu
Subject: Re: First Language Taught in CSC degree track
Message-ID: <4539@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Fri, 31-Jul-87 15:40:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: jade.4539
Posted: Fri Jul 31 15:40:51 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 2-Aug-87 10:36:12 EDT
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Reply-To: dbcooper@violet.berkeley.edu (Doug Cooper)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
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Summary: Pro Modula-2


  I think that covering `just the important parts' of Ada, and
assigning `just the best parts' of several different languages
in one term, are essentially the same thing:  Feature Use 101.
This approach to teaching programming is what concentrating on
names and dates is to teaching history -- superficial, and
encouraging of plug-in responses rather than thought and analysis.
I can't understand why it is thought that programming badly in
n languages would be preferable to programming well in one.

  Certainly, when a language is too brain-damaged to illustrate the
currently major ideas of programming (like, say, BASIC or COBOL),
then teaching only a single, simple language causes problems.
However, a language like Modula-2 represents essentially the
best-known solution to an extremely large class of programming problems.
Its difficulty over Pascal, say, is in proportion to the increased
ability it allows.  On the other hand, while Ada solves a larger class
of problems, it does so only at the expense of a considerably more
complex solution set.

  As long as we remain willing to change the introductory language
every so often (and not just reupholster it, a la FORTRAN) it seems
reasonable to spend a term or two giving students the chance to
learn the use of a single language well.  There is plenty of time
in later terms to introduce special-purpose languages, or languages
that encompass a different world view.
 
  Maybe one question will help put this in perspective:  Whose
code would you rather read?  That of someone who has learned the
accessible parts of Ada (plus a few new features from last week)?
That of someone who knows the high points of languages X, Y, and Z?
Or that of somebody who is reasonably proficient in \all/ of one
general-purpose language?