Re: Eiffel anyone? - Who uses it?

[robinsaj@miavx1.muohio.edu]

In article <33cc35e0.49261891@news.pixi.com>, tomchen@aloha.com (Tom M. Chen) writes:
> On Fri, 11 Jul 1997 07:13:09 -0400, "ivory@tower.com" <ivory@tower.com> wrote:
> 
> :My friend's son is looking at colleges, and was startled to see
> :that RIT appears to have a heavy focus on the language Eiffel for
> :the first 2-3 years.  He's using this as a black mark against the
> :school.  The thinking is that he'd rather be learning a 'real'
> :language that has real-life value on the job market.
> :
> :He's asked me for my opinion, and I'd have to say that I somewhat
> :agree.  I've never met an Eiffel programer, and don't see a lot of
> :ads for them in the classifieds.  Note: I'm not debating whether or
> :not Eiffel is a good language; that's not the concern.  The concern
> :is whether or not the job market will see this as having been time
> :well spent.
> :
> :So, what's the (reality based) counter argument?
> :
> :
> :[obviously, I seldom (ever) read each of the newsgroups I posted this
> :to, so please e-mail responses as well as re-post.  thanks]
> 
> Hey, M.I.T. uses Eiffel as their learning language, too.  I don't see any
> disadvantages in it though.  Maybe Eiffel is a better language than C++ in that
> it helps you learn better programming concepts, so you might end up becoming a
> better C++ or Java programmer compared to those who learned C++ in college.  As
> long as the language is object oriented, I don't see any problems because once
> you learned the concepts, you can learn other languages quickly.
> 
> Tom
> 

I don't think it is really important which language is used to teach students
introductory programming concepts. The point is not just to learn a programming
language but to learn how to think like a programer. I think once you learn to
do that you can learn any language easily and quickly. If he has a hard time
getting an entry level job after college because he knows different languages
than the ones that are used at the company then the person hiring probably
isn't a programmer. Technology changes so rapidly these days. It is more
important to hire individuals who understand programming concepts and can learn
new things quickly, then to hire someone that has experience with the
particular language the company is using at the time. After a while the company 
will switch to a new, "better" programming environment or language and if
the programmers they hired can't adapt quickly then they hired the wrong people.
  

Alex