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: 11 Sep 93 03:49:48 GMT From: seas.gwu.edu!mfeldman@uunet.uu.net (Michael Feldman) Subject: Re: Pascal or C as a first lang Message-ID: <1993Sep11.034948.27142@seas.gwu.edu> List-Id: In article willett@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (david.c. willett) writes: >>From article <1993Sep10.005836.27727@seas.gwu.edu>, by mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu ( Michael Feldman): >> Please take discussion of this to comp.edu. >> >> Mike Feldman > {Mike's .sig deleted} > >Why? The pedagogical componenent of this debate is probably more appropriate >there, but I see a larger issue. That being: Which development paradigm is >more universially appropriate? We have the Ada/Pascal paradigm or the C >paradigm. I think it would be productive to characterize both paradigms >and develop the application universe for each. I believe that discussion >belongs in this group as we seem to return to it frequently. > [deleted] > >Perhaps such a discussion cannot occur here. Nonetheless, the exercise >would, in my view, be useful for all; Ada proponents and detractors alike. > I recommended that comparisons of teaching languages take place on comp.edu mostly because the readership there is broader-based than here on an Ada-specific group, and we are more likely to get interesting responses from people who don't read c.l.a., including a broader base of college teachers. In that forum, we may have an opportunity to debunk some of the outdated myths about Ada, and also to learn what makes others tick. I wasn't implying that a discussion of teaching languages shouldn't happen, or can't happen, here, but the header was Pascal vs. C as an intro language, and I perceived no relevance to Ada in it. As a 10-year teacher of Ada in universities and industry, I am arrogant enough to be willing to go on at unbearable length on this subject. I'm not trying to moderate this group out of certain topics; I just think we could all learn something by reading the more generic group. Mike Feldman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael B. Feldman - co-chair, SIGAda Education Committee Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science The George Washington University - Washington, DC 20052 USA 202-994-5253 (voice) - 202-994-0227 (fax) - mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Internet) "We just changed our CONFIG.SYS, then pressed CTRL-ALT-DEL. It was easy." -- Alexandre Giglavyi, director Lyceum of Information Technologies, Moscow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------