Aum Sadhunthan, I also learned programming with PASCAL, it was Turbo Pascal with it's yellow on black interface that got me into programming. I remember creating dice rollers for my RPG stuff when I was a kid...
:D On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 10:29 PM, Sadhunathan Nadesan<[email protected]> wrote: > >> Here in Plovdiv they teach High School kids PASCAL, which is, unless you >> are some sort of retro-geek, a major turn-off. I shall, very shortly, >> become a "pusher" for RR, and be trotting round the school giving demos >> of just what can be done. > > > Alternate point of view: > > I love Pascal. Just like those high school kids, it was the first > language I was taught. It enforces excellent habits such as strong typing > which then carry over into other languages. Great teaching language, > and if you study the work of Nickolas Wirth, such as "Algorithms + > Data Structures = Programs" (if memory serves) you will appreciate it's > elegence and power for recursion, for exmple. It also has great string > handling routines, as does Rev. Much better to learn Pascal before > studying C, to understand the safeguards that have been removed. > > It is a practical language too. There are free compilers. It is > widely used in Europe although not so much in the US, but of course, > it originated in Switzerland. There are large system built in it. My > consulting company's first project was in Pascal, and was very successful. > That was more than 25 years ago, but today I have CGI programs written > in Pascal that are very effective for my current employer. > > It is a language with a rich history, as is Rev from hypercard roots. > Turbo Pascal from Borland blew the doors off anything else in it's day. > My variant was UCSD Pascal, that was my school, and the pioneers who > created the P-system ahead of their time saw their work blossom as Java > many years later. > > Perhaps I'd be considered a retro-geek but my view is, there is still > a lot of value in Pascal as a first language for high school kids, it > should not be simply dismissed. Sometimes the old ways are the better > ways. Actually, wasn't that part of your point about educational programs, > and nose to the grindstone study habits? Just like Rev, Pascal is not > suited for everything, but it's also not a "major turn-off" to everyone. > > On the other hand, RR for high school kids would be a great addition > to any CS program. No argument there :-) > > -- Sadhu > _______________________________________________ > use-revolution mailing list > [email protected] > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription > preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution > -- http://www.andregarzia.com All We Do Is Code. _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list [email protected] Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
