djones@megatest.UUCP (Dave Jones) (09/01/88)
From article <566@aiva.ed.ac.uk>, by ken@aiva.ed.ac.uk (Ken Johnson): > > Since I posted a request for recommendations for a textbook about Pascal > for students in an FE college, I have received various replies by > E-mail. I noted with interest that _all_ the recommendations from the > US included a reference to `Oh, Pascal', a text available in the UK but > not widely used, though the publisher says it is currently available > from stock. Of course every reply would include a reference to _Oh_Pascal_. Somehow it has virtually cornered the market on introductory Pascal texts. I don't know how this has come about, but I think it is quite unfortunate. I taught out of _Oh, Pascal_ for nine quarters at Ohio University. The university required that all introductory and intermediate courses be taught from the same text, and _Oh_Pascal_ was it. There is far too much of it, and it is poorly organized at all levels. It is very difficult for the students to determine just what parts are important and which are padding. ( I wonder if the fact that large books sell for more at the college book store has anything to do with its bulk. I understand there is a new revision out which is even larger than the original.) It is written in a cutesy-cutesy manner that I found quite irritating. (And I can still enjoy Sesame Street at age 41!) It has perhaps the worst programming examples in it that I have ever seen in a text book. There is one that purports to turn gerunds into infinitives in text. It would receive a D in my beginning programming class, and only that because does seem to work for most input. I wish I could recommend a better text. I have seen many, but it has been several years since I was interested in such matters, and the names are so similar. Best wishes to all you teachers out there. -- Dave J.