gast@ucla-cs.UUCP (03/03/86)
>In article <109@polyob.UUCP> hgoldber@polyob.UUCP (A1 harry goldberg ) writes: >am interested to hear pros and conss about using pascal as the >language in which to teach introductory programming What language should be used depends on who is taking the course. If the course is programming for poets then Pascal or BASIC are fine. They are essentially teaching languages. If the course is for computer science majors then I would vote for Algol 68 or Lisp or Prolog. Algol 68 is much better than Pascal because it is much more general. It doesn't restrict the programmer to write in a manner such that a one pass compiler can be used. It is orthogonal and general. Structs (records) can be returned by a function, for example. (Pascal does not allow this). Mode (type) equivalence is not by name as it is in Pascal. Thus, it is possible to write a generalized sort routine. How do you teach someone to write a sort routine in Pascal? Only a few ideas have to be learned, not a complex set of rules and regulations. One example is the idea of the equivalence of expressions and statements. Students can think about problem solving, not syntax. In the upper division programming languages course at UCLA, the language the students like best is Algol 68. Is there any wonder why? Finally, HOW DO YOU EXPECT STUDENTS TO WRITE ORTHOGONAL AND GENERAL PROGRAMS IF THE LANGUAGE THEY ARE USING IS NON-ORTHOGONAL? David Gast {ihnp4, ucbvax}!ucla-cs!gast gast@ucla-locus.arpa P.S. The argument is that there are not enough textbooks or compilers is not valid. If 10,000 professors started clammoring for Algol 68 textbooks and complilers, they would appear. Even Joe "I don't know Anything" Technical writer would write a book on Algol 68.