Re: Ada for 1st year students

["(see below)" <yaldnif.w@blueyonder.co.uk>]

On 11/10/2008 13:54, in article
bc9af86b-de74-4ee8-bbd8-942154036def@34g2000hsh.googlegroups.com, "John
McCormick" <mccormick@cs.uni.edu> wrote:

> I've been teaching the first year courses since 1978 and have been
> using Ada in them since 1990.  I've written Ada textbooks for these
> courses.  I have some strong opinions in these matters.
> 
...
> 
> For the first course (CS1), I feel strongly that the textbook should
> emphasize top down design through procedural abstraction.  Beginners
> need to learn the fundamental control structures (decision, iteration,
> and subprogram) and fundamental data structures (the Ada type
> system).  I feel that it is important that they see sizable examples
> in the form of case studies.
> 
> I am VERY wary of teaching GUI programming to beginners.  They put
> enormous amounts of time into playing with fonts, colors, etc at the
> expense of learning basic programming.  Too many students come out of
> GUI based CS1 courses with no ability to write decent if and loop
> statements.  But they sure can draw pretty windows. :-) I prefer to
> keep the I/O as basic as possible and concentrate on the fundamentals
> of algorithm design and implementation.
 ...
> 
> Note the emphasis on problem solving in each of these titles.  Don't
> go by the US Amazon for the prices.  I know that my publisher prices
> my books lower in Spain, so they probably do the same in Portugal.
> Check with your book store.  There is also a decent supply of used
> copies available.
> 
> I like to schedule what CS educators call "closed labs".  These are
> like the labs you had in your chemistry and physics courses.  In the
> lab, students get practice with the concepts discussed in lecture.
> They solve small problems with an instructor nearby to assist.
> Research at the University of Texas at Austin indicates positive
> results with closed labs.  I give my students a Pre-Lab exercise to
> complete before the lab session, the In-Lab exercise, and then a Post-
> Lab exercise (programming assignment) that gives them a more
> challenging problem to solve.  I would be happy to share these
> laboratory materials.  Of course, they are closely tied to my textbook
> 
> In terms of tools, you are on the right track with GNAT through the
> GAP program.  I agree with others that GPS is too much for beginners.
> My favorite IDE, AdaGIDE, has been mentioned.  It is about as basic as
> you can get.  
...

I headed a team that introduced Ada 95 as the 1st- and 2nd-years' foundation
language at Glasgow University CS Department in 1996. That ran very well
indeed for 10 years. In fact, it was by far the most successful course I had
anything to do with, in nearly 30 years of teaching programming.

The course we delivered followed the recommendations above very closely
indeed, and I strongly agree with virtually everything John has said.

(Ada has now been replaced by Python "because it is more fun".  I'm glad I
retired before that happened, as I would not be able to disguise my contempt
for the guilty parties.)

-- 
Bill Findlay
<surname><forename> chez blueyonder.co.uk