Instead of deciding between Python or Lisp for a programming intro course...What about an intro course that uses *BOTH*? Good idea?

[beliavsky at aol.com]

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 9:38:38 PM UTC-4, Ian wrote:
> On Sun, May 10, 2015 at 3:16 PM, Marko Rauhamaa <marko at pacujo.net> wrote:
> > Scheme is my favorite language. I think, however, it is a pretty
> > advanced language and requires a pretty solid basis in programming and
> > computer science.
> >
> > Python, in contrast, is a great introductory programming language. Sure,
> > you *can* get quite advanced with it, too, but you can get quite a bit
> > of fun stuff done with just the basics.
> 
> MIT famously used Scheme in their introductory course for more than
> two decades. Although they switched to Python a few years ago, I don't
> think they did so because there was anything wrong with Scheme.
> Wikipedia informs me that Yale and Grinnell are still using Scheme for
> their introductory courses.

Yale has taken the unusual step of outsourcing its introductory CS class to Harvard, which uses C as the main language in its CS50 class.

http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2014/11/07/faculty-approve-cs50-for-yale/
Faculty approve CS50 for Yale

"Just under a month after announcing that Yale's computer science department was considering importing Harvard's most popular course, faculty voted to bring CS50 to Yale.

Following what Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway described as a "long, healthy discussion," faculty at Thursday's monthly meeting voted overwhelmingly to approve CS50 as a class to be taught at Yale. Computer science department chair Joan Feigenbaum said that the next step for CS50 will be for Harvard to approve the sharing of CS50 with Yale. If the course earns approval, she noted, Yale will formally introduce the class in Fall 2015."