From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.5-pre1 (2020-06-20) on ip-172-31-74-118.ec2.internal X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=3.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.5-pre1 Date: 27 May 93 01:19:11 GMT From: seas.gwu.edu!mfeldman@uunet.uu.net (Michael Feldman) Subject: interesting thread on comp.edu Message-ID: <1993May27.011911.11713@seas.gwu.edu> List-Id: comp.edu is a sort of catch-all newsgroup with two main threads of discussion: - the use of the computer in education; - education about computers, and CS generally You might enjoy reading the last few days of this group, for a long thread on the virtues and liabilities of C++ as a first language. I've sat (mostly) on the sidelines reading this, as it's really all I can do to keep up with comp.lang.ada. Ada fans will be happy to know that the prevailing opinion in comp.edu is that C++ is _not_ a good first language, mainly because of all the unsafe stuff, for the use of which there is not an obvious alternative (pointers, etc.). A comment was made that a language should provide unsage stuff, but with safe alternatives, and done in a way so as to be sure that programmers know they are using the unsafe stuff. The poster said that C++ is "evolving" in this direction. I resisted the temptation to say how delighted I was that C++ is finally evolving, in this area, to where Ada was 10 years ago. Very little has been said in that thread about Ada; apparently nobody wanted to get the thread off on another track, and neither did I. Happy reading. Mike Feldman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael B. Feldman co-chair, SIGAda Education Committee Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science School of Engineering and Applied Science The George Washington University Washington, DC 20052 USA (202) 994-5253 (voice) (202) 994-5296 (fax) mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Internet) "The most important thing is to be sincere, and once you've learned how to fake that, you've got it made." -- old show-business adage ------------------------------------------------------------------------