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,MAILING_LIST_MULTI, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,3f52e7d21475e02a,start X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-12-23 15:07:03 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!proxad.net!teaser.fr!enst.fr!not-for-mail From: sk Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Basic (Was:Re: Why is Ada NOT ... ) Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 17:07:17 -0600 Organization: ENST, France Sender: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org Message-ID: Reply-To: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org NNTP-Posting-Host: marvin.enst.fr Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: avanie.enst.fr 1040684822 91586 137.194.161.2 (23 Dec 2002 23:07:02 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@enst.fr NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 23:07:02 +0000 (UTC) Return-Path: User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020828 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en Errors-To: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org X-BeenThere: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13 Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: , List-Id: comp.lang.ada mail<->news gateway List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org X-BeenThere: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:32263 Date: 2002-12-23T17:07:17-06:00 sk writes: >> Basic is a very valuable learning tool to get a >> feel for what programming is. > >I disagree. Basic is a poor language to learn first. >Much better would be Ada or some dialect of ML. > >- Bob I am not arguing that Basic is a good language (nor bad). My point is that for beginners, who have little concept of fundamental programming concepts (loops arrays etc), Basic provides a frame of reference so that these concepts have some solidity/meaning when one runs across them later. Without formal/structured environment (school, uni etc) Basic is as good as any language to gain an understanding of what programming is and why loops and arrays are significant (or the pitfalls of implicit variables). Given that QBasic shipped with the last MS OS I owned, this seems to be a better introduction to programming than spending money or time on downloading or purchasing a complete GUI/IDE or GNAT to only find that it does not meet ones needs. (Replace Basic by any programming environment already available => MS-DOS batch, or bash/sh scripting etc) -- -- -- Merge vertically for real address -- ------------------------------------ -- s n p @ t . o -- k i e k c c m ------------------------------------