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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 107f24,626a0a064b320310,start X-Google-Attributes: gid107f24,public X-Google-Thread: 10259a,626a0a064b320310,start X-Google-Attributes: gid10259a,public X-Google-Thread: f4fd2,626a0a064b320310,start X-Google-Attributes: gidf4fd2,public X-Google-Thread: 114809,626a0a064b320310,start X-Google-Attributes: gid114809,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,ea8ea502d35ca2ce X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 103d24,626a0a064b320310,start X-Google-Attributes: gid103d24,public X-Google-Thread: 1164ba,626a0a064b320310,start X-Google-Attributes: gid1164ba,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-05-04 18:52:02 PST Path: newsfeed.google.com!sn-xit-03!supernews.com!newsfeed.wirehub.nl!news-out.visi.com!hermes.visi.com!news1.optus.net.au!optus!newshub1.rdc1.nsw.optushome.com.au!news1.rdc1.nsw.optushome.com.au.POSTED!not-for-mail From: raj Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.lisp,comp.lang.smalltalk,comp.lang.basic,comp.lang.functional,comp.lang.scheme,comp.lang.perl Subject: Re: Beginner's Language? Message-ID: References: <9cukad$nn68@news-dxb> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Sat, 05 May 2001 01:51:03 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 203.164.144.2 X-Complaints-To: abuse@optushome.com.au X-Trace: news1.rdc1.nsw.optushome.com.au 989027463 203.164.144.2 (Sat, 05 May 2001 11:51:03 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 05 May 2001 11:51:03 EST Organization: @Home Network Xref: newsfeed.google.com comp.lang.ada:7191 comp.lang.lisp:9693 comp.lang.smalltalk:9446 comp.lang.functional:5510 comp.lang.scheme:3620 comp.lang.perl:2623 Date: 2001-05-05T01:51:03+00:00 List-Id: On Fri, 4 May 2001 20:12:21 +0400, Faisal Halim wrote: >Assalaamu 'alaikum, > >I would like to know if ADA is a good first language for a beginner, >especially when compared to Lisp and Perl, and BASIC. > >Despite my 'O' Level qualification in Computers, please assume you are >answering a person totally devoid of computer concepts, as I would find >such replies useful when answering queries from 7th grade students who are >interested in computers and programming, but have no idea of which language >to use. A restricted subset of Ada would be excellent since it can be used to teach not only programming but more importantly, software engineering concepts. However, other languages you may want to consider include Haskell , OCaml , Smalltalk and even ( shudder ! C++ or Java ) If your students are bright and motivated to learn theory and fundamentals, Lisp ( or perhaps its smaller and more pedagogically oriented dialect Scheme ) and Haskell are excellent choices. If your students are short sighted drones who want to learn the currently fashionable choices, C++ and Java are (yuck ) appropriate. But please, do not inflict Perl and BASIC upon innocent children.