From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,97188312486d4578 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: "Byron B. Kauffman" Subject: Re: What's the best language to start with? [was: Re: Should I learn C or Pascal?] Date: 1996/07/29 Message-ID: <31FD38FB.5DD9@lmtas.lmco.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 170891586 references: <01bb73e3.1c6a0060$6bf467ce@dave.iceslimited.com> <1996Jul20.124025.122789@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> <01bb7b06$311fabc0$87ee6fce@timpent.airshields.com> content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii organization: Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems mime-version: 1.0 newsgroups: comp.lang.ada x-mailer: Mozilla 2.01 (X11; I; SunOS 5.4 sun4m) Date: 1996-07-29T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Tim Behrendsen wrote: snip... > > C: Learn structured programming. C is close enough > to assembly that a student can really *see* how the > compiler translates the code to assembly, and really > understand what languages are all about. > Excuse me? IMHO, 'C' and 'structured programming' in the same sentence constitutes an oxymoron. I would think that in a learning environment, you would want to teach the student good habits, not how to hack. Once you've taught them something about structured programming (forget BASIC and Pascal - use Ada - at least you can get a job using it), you can THEN give them a look at the 'down and dirty' side of the business. -- Byron Kauffman