Re: Ada for 1st year students

[Georg Bauhaus <see.reply.to@maps.futureapps.de>]

Gary Scott wrote:

> For the stated purpose, Fortran 95/2003 would be just about perfect.  It
> also has modules, and the syntax is generally more math-like and intuitive.

Unfortunately, math intuition can be deceptive when
it comes to those naughty computers. They just don't want to
behave like you would expect, being guided by mathematical
preconceptions. They behave like computers.
They require each and every step to be modeled in terms of
these restricted computer thingies.

Why not start with computers, then learn about the mathematics
of programs and then see how the knowledge can be employed to solve
other mathematical problems. Or even to just solve problems.
If an exercise should lead the student to an understanding
of computers, where does mathematical intuition lead?
Does mathematical intuition help with how to control a computer
with the help of a programs?

Is mathematical high school knowledge helpful at all?
I remember exercises being taken from math. Easy ones requiring
only that students know the meaning of the word that the instructor
had chosen for "calculating the sum of line lengths" of some
geometrical figure. If you had taken math at school, you will
probably remember. Other exercises, later, involved concepts
from 3rd semester math. Too bad if this math concept hadn't
been taught as part of 3rd semester physics education.
"Engineers, you are interested in mathematics, so I'll just
explain it in mathematical terms..." [noise level increasing
due to higher participation in murmur that the remark had caused.]

There is a preoccupation with the parts of mathematics that
math-trained CS instructors happen to know. That's education by
assumption! Suppose that in early computer education the
math-centric problems were replaced with equally programmable
formal problems taken from neurobiology, 3rd semester. What is
going to happen? Outrage! Because obviously mathematicians can't
be supposed to know about neurobiology. By any educational
logic. But CS students know mathematics, because, you know,
it's the same thing, basically.  Or take problems from chemistry,
3rd semester? Or from econometry, 3rd course?  I guess this then
will be the first time that the CS mathematicians start seeing the
harm that their intuition is doing to computer programming...


-- 
Georg Bauhaus
Y A Time Drain  http://www.9toX.de