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: 109fba,baaf5f793d03d420 X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public X-Google-Thread: fc89c,97188312486d4578 X-Google-Attributes: gidfc89c,public X-Google-Thread: 1014db,6154de2e240de72a X-Google-Attributes: gid1014db,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,97188312486d4578 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Tim Behrendsen Subject: Re: What's the best language to start with? [was: Re: Should I learn C or Pascal?] Date: 1996/08/02 Message-ID: #1/1 X-Deja-AN: 171890878 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: InterNex Information Services 1-800-595-3333 mime-version: 1.0 newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++,comp.unix.programmer,comp.lang.ada Date: 1996-08-02T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: On Wed, 31 Jul 1996, Stephen M O'Shaughnessy wrote: > > But if you are talking about designing with, say, logic ICs, I would argue that > it can easily be done without a knowlege of resistors, capacitors, transistors > or even ohms law. However, you would not be a student learning EE. The > point I am trying to make is that we must be careful about what basics are > necessary to learning a new skill. This is what I meant, and I agree with you. Just as a CS student is not learning programming without assembly skills. > I don't know much about Lady Lovelace (Namesake of the Ada programming > language). I wonder how much of what we today call the basics did she > know and understand? I don't think she understood bytes and bits. I > am sure, with her math background, she knew about number bases but I > don't believe she had a working knowledge of hexidecimal numbers. Yet > she was able to conceive a *computer* language of sorts and use it > to solve real world problems on a machine that did not then, nor did > it ever exist. She is purported to be the first programmer. Start with the > abstract. Wait ... this would be like saying that since Newton invented calculus, (Let's not start the age-old Leibnitz argument, BTW! :) ) we shouldn't teach calculus because Newton didn't need it! And if that was good enough for ol' Isaac ... Come to think of it, that's an interesing analogy. Maybe we should start math students off with the "abstraction" of calculus, and fill in the algebra/arithmetic details later! -- Tim Behrendsen (tim@airshields.com)