Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!cogsci.berkeley.edu!jamin
From: jamin@cogsci.berkeley.edu (Sugih Jamin)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Which language to teach first?
Message-ID: <30666@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 16 Aug 89 01:40:30 GMT
References: <2552@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu> <6204@hubcap.clemson.edu> <5594@ficc.uu.net> <1501@shuksan.UUCP> <228@zip.eecs.umich.edu>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: jamin@cogsci.berkeley.edu.UUCP (Sugih Jamin)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 15

My first language was Scheme.  My second language C.  But that is of no
importance.  As my prof. likes to say, "Teach them the concepts, they'll
pick up any language within a week."  I sort of agree with that belief,
even though I haven't learned Prolog.  But the point is, if the choice of
language is immaterial, then, as a student, I sincerely beg professors
to teach a language that they can support with 1) a good accompanying 
textbook--for example, Scheme has the excellent Abelson & Sussman, 
2) a fast compiler/interpreter (Scheme or Saber C), 3) a good debugger, and 
4) an intelligent editor and otherwise supportive environment--
the trio: GNU Emacs, C, and UNIX comes to mind.

In general, keep the frustration to the minimum.


sugih