Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mit-eddie!ll-xn!ames!lll-tis!ptsfa!ihnp4!homxb!mhuxt!mhuxm!mhuxo!ulysses!gamma!pyuxp!rruxa!gwl From: gwl@rruxa.UUCP (George W. Leach) Newsgroups: comp.edu Subject: Re: first language Message-ID: <292@rruxa.UUCP> Date: Mon, 24-Aug-87 09:18:30 EDT Article-I.D.: rruxa.292 Posted: Mon Aug 24 09:18:30 1987 Date-Received: Wed, 26-Aug-87 07:31:41 EDT References: <405@ndsuvax.UUCP> <1010@argus.UUCP> <290@rruxa.UUCP> <1228@mhres.mh.nl> Organization: Bell Communications Research Lines: 58 In article <1228@mhres.mh.nl>, jv@mhres.mh.nl (Johan Vromans) writes: > In article <1016@argus.UUCP> ken@argus.UUCP (Kenneth Ng) writes: > >REXX is definitely not a solve all for all language. While one can > >define arrays, one cannot define structures. One can design lists > >of strings if really needed, but it gets complicated and starts sounding > >like LISP. Also the nature of the language makes compilers difficult, > >but not impossible. But for a beginner language I would place it above > >most languages, even Ada (yes you heard that right Reggie). > ^^^^^^^^ I'm shocked Ken!!!!!! > > Isn't that what happened to Pascal: a simple, clear language meant for > educational purposes only, and then (after being accepted) it was > heavily mal-treated to make it suitable for *ALL* purposes? > Pascal is not the first language used at NJIT. Fortran is taught to all students as a first language. This is a legacy from our origins as Newark College of Engineering. All CS students immediately will be cleansed in the Intro to CS course by being taught Pascal. I took this course in 1976 and I have taught it for the past couple of years. I have seen Pascal on an Interdata-32, IBM PC, Sperry UNIVAC and under UNIX. Although Pascal is far superiour as a teaching language than many other popular languages (yes Ken even better than C for this purpose), I still think there is a serious need for improvement upon this first attempt at a teaching language. Remember that it was first thrust upon the world in 1971!!! I did hear of a language called Turing, which was produced by the folks at the U. of Toronto. Turing was hailed as an improvement over Pascal as a teaching device. I did send away for the demo disk and the technical reports that accompany it. However, I have not had the time to really look into it in detail. Has anyone else? Is anyone using Turing or any other newer languages that have been produced specifically for the purpose of teaching programming? George W. Leach Bell Communications Research New Jersey Institute of Technology 444 Hoes Lane 4A-1129 Computer & Information Sciences Dept. Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 Newark, New Jersey 07102 (201) 699-8639 UUCP: ..!bellcore!indra!reggie ARPA: reggie%njit-eies.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere Dr. Seuss "One fish two fish red fish blue fish" > > : johan > -- > Johan Vromans | jv@mh.nl via European backbone > Multihouse N.V., Gouda, the Netherlands | uucp: ..{seismo!}mcvax!mh.nl!jv > "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness"