OFF-TOPIC:: Why Lisp is not my favorite programming language
Josiah Carlson
jcarlson at nospam.uci.edu
Fri Mar 12 01:54:10 EST 2004
> I was 15 when I got my first computer, a 4k TRS-80 Model I with Level I
> BASIC, cassette tape for storage. It was several years before I could afford
> a system with a floppy drive, let alone a hard drive.. I spent nearly all my
> free time for months teaching myself BASIC programing, mostly trial and
> error. The book that came with my Model I was a great introduction to
> programming.
>
> My 13 year old niece wants to learn programming. What's the best
> introductory language for her?
Really, depending on what you want to teach her (programming is fun vs.
programming can be a pain in the ass), that should define which language
you should send her off to learn.
1. Teach her Scheme for a couple months to get her mind around the idea
of recursion (very beneficial to all new programmers).
2. Spend a couple months teaching her C so that she gets the feeling for
a statically typed system and dealing with pointers.
3. Spend a month teaching her object orientation with C++.
4. If you feel up for it (I wouldn't be), spend a couple weeks on Java.
5. Once she's feeling good with the ideas behind programming, spend an
afternoon teaching her Python, and give her a week to convert everything
she ever did to Python.
6. Reap the rewards of a Python convert.
- Josiah
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