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

[Michael Torrie]

On 05/11/2015 08:04 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> On Tue, 12 May 2015 05:01 am, beliavsky at aol.com wrote:
> 
>> 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.
> 
> And another generation of new programmers will be irreversibly damaged by
> exposure to C...

How so?  Surely starting at first principles of a computer's operation
can't be all that bad.  In my program at uni, one of the very first
level courses was actually to build a simulated CPU from logic gates and
then program it in assembly.  C is just a step up from there.  I should
note they also had Java in the first year, and that certainly caused
irreversible damage.

The wonderfulness of LISP and Python can be appreciated just fine with a
solid background in how Von Neumann architecture actually functions. In
fact I appreciate the layers of abstraction even more after I understand
them.