Jan Erik Moströ m writes: > On 09-04-06 at 11.10, Bennett Kankuzi <[email protected]> wrote: > > Personally I would consider what the purpose of the course is, > what do you expect the kids to learn. My opinion is that it's > the problem solving part that's important and that's what they > should learn ... the programming language is just a specific > notation for their solution.
I agree. > So assuming that it's problem solving part that is of importance > then you only have to give them an easy way of writing down > their solution ... which pretty much rule out all three of these > languages :-D Definitely none of those three. My suggestion is Scheme, for several reasons including: * simple syntax and semantics * a well-known and (I think) well-regarded textbook, "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs", which is aimed at teaching programming rather than just teaching a programming language. It's by the designers of the language, and it's also available on-line free of charge http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/ * instructors' manual available * an introductory course of video lectures by the designers, downloadable free of charge -- even if you don't use them directly it might save some time in preparing your own lecture series http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-lectures/ * a choice of implementations, including a specifically student-friendly one (DrScheme on http://www.plt-scheme.org/software/) * the language is simple enough that its internals can be taught at undergraduate level, giving an introduction to programming language implementation __John
