Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!cbnewsc!nevin1
From: nevin1@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (nevin.j.liber)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Which language to teach first?
Message-ID: <2449@cbnewsc.ATT.COM>
Date: 16 Aug 89 00:37:03 GMT
References: <2584@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu> <6226@hubcap.clemson.edu>
Reply-To: nevin1@ihlpb.ATT.COM (nevin.j.liber)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 17

In article <6226@hubcap.clemson.edu> billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu@hubcap.clemson.edu writes:
>    No, actually, students need to be exposed to ADTs early.
>    Probably the best way to do it is for the professor to
>    provide the spec, and have the students write an implementation,
>    while the concepts behind the spec are being covered in class.

I don't know.  I tend to laugh when I get a non-trivial (and usually
incomplete) spec for a trivial program, which is what most of the
beginning CS programs tend to have.  It makes ADTs *seem* like useless
overhead (they may not be, especially on larger projects, but tiny
projects aren't the way to convince someone that ADTs are worth their
cost).
-- 
 _ __	NEVIN ":-)" LIBER  nevin1@ihlpb.ATT.COM  (312) 979-4751  IH 4F-410
' )  )			 "We are almost into the '90s; *nothing* is wierd."
 /  / _ , __o  ____	   -- Buzz Kelman, Newsman & Bluesman, WLUP, 7/28/89
/  (_