Python in High School

[Nick J Chackowsky]

sprad wrote:
> I'm a high school computer teacher, and I'm starting a series of
> programming courses next year (disguised as "game development" classes
> to capture more interest). The first year will be a gentle
> introduction to programming, leading to two more years of advanced
> topics.
> 

I have taught high school comp. sci. for a number of years, using 
Pascal, Ada, C++, Visual Basic, and Python as languages. Python has, in 
my opinion, given the students the best opportunity to really discover 
what programming and computer science are all about. Very high level 
code without the enormous learning curve for the "extras", plus easy 
debugging and useful error messages make it ideal.

class Example {
     // your program begins with a call to main()
     public static void main(String args[]){
       System.out.println("this is a simple Java program");
     }
}

vs

print ("This is a simple Python program.")

Once a student has a grasp of Python and programming, he/she is better 
prepared to understand _why_ Java and C++ _need_ all the declarations, 
decorations, and specifications, and why they might be useful. But it's 
sure nice to start doing real programming in such a simple, elegant 
environment.

Nick.


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