entry, but if not, a quick recap: In 363, Professor Loui had us write something that amounted to "Do you think CS101 should use Java or Gawk?". My response can be found here. My nagging concern is that the assignment was really "Do you want an A or a B in CS363?". In that case, my response that Java and C++ are better introductory language is a request for a B. Well, if I'm going to get a B for preferring Java and C++, then I'm going to get a B! Thus, I give to you the special edition rant not seen in the theatrical version.
When picking a language to teach impressionable freshman, you must carefully consider not only what the language can do for them, but what they can do with the language. Scripting and classic languages alike can easily teach concepts like multi-argument functions, recursion, iteration, and all that good stuff. But how well do they do it? Sure, scripting languages can be wrassled into providing graphical output, but these are introductory students we're talking about. All they're going to manage are some print or echo statements that give them something like: 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 ...
That really makes people feel good about their programming abilities, for sure. Now, if they were provided with a Java framework, they could easily see this as the fruit of their labors. Now that's something that makes people interested in computer science. These two programs should take the same time to write, given that the teacher spent half an hour hacking out a shell that visually displays the results. Ken Goldman did just that for us when he taught CS101. He also provided a nice graphical tool to examine your program's data structures with all the internal relationships. It was like having a virtual Ken, who could draw on the board what was going on in your program 24/7. With scripting languages, though, you're left with what amounts to printf debugging, which is a horrible way to do things.
"But!" Some people say, "Declaring variables is just soooo hard and confusing! Int, double, char, and string - what does it all mean?" Bah, arguing that learning the basic semantics of Java is harder than the semantics of a scripting language is is a waste of breath. Also, hypothetical complaints that inadvertently rhyme hold much less weight. Sure, you could make it confusing by forcing the students write a multi-threaded polymorphic applet for their first assignment. Or, you could teach the class step by step, like a sane person. The biggest challenge for students in intro classes is learning how to approach the problem, not how to declare a function that takes two integer arguments. If they want a class that teaches a language, they should have gone to a tech school.
In short, Java and C++ are going to be more engaging to the students, and more useful in the long run. People don't go to WashU because they want to write a web-interface for the next ebay. Scripting languages should only be used for simple interfaces, or quick hack programs that are less than 100 lines. Anything more significant should be done in a more complex language. Also, memory management should be done by the programmer, not the program. Lazy kids these days, don't know how to use new, delete, or even malloc! That is all.]]>
GAWK - A plague upon mankind.
