[vox] ISO: Good programming language to teach an 8yr old

[vox@lists.lugod.org]

On Fri, Mar 19, 2004 at 11:33:01AM -0800, Norm Matloff wrote:
> 
> On Fri, Mar 19, 2004 at 11:33:58AM -0800, dylan wrote:
> 
> > based on what i have seen form python, it seems like a very promising
> > language to learn... that might be your best bet.. i know that i want to
> > learn it someday!!
> 
> I'm really big on Python, definitely my favorite language.  It's very
> clean and elegant, and just as powerful as Perl without Perl's ugliness.

I'm a C guy overall myself, would like Java more if it didn't have such
shitty memory handling[1] and wasn't so bloody slow, and get huge 
amounts of joy out of assembly.  That being said, I think Python is a
great general-purpose language for novice-to-intermediate programmers,
especailly when said programmers just want to get whatever they are
writing their program for accomplished, rather than spending all their 
time studying theory.  I'd never write anything large or complex in it,
but it's a great way to tackle things like database interfaces, simple 
games, etc.

> In terms of teaching kids, I've never done this, but I would suggest
> that Python would work very well.  One thing in particular which would
> recommend it in that context is that Python can also be run in
> interactive mode.

You know, if I ever get the time, I'll have to sit down and write a
'Python for Brainless Drooling Retarded Eggplants' that covers
everything from the basics of programming (this is a variable, etc.) on 
up.  Far too many programming books are aimed at people with previous
programming experience, except for 'Visual Anything', which is pretty 
much useless.

[1] Why can't Java give the programmer the option of handling their own 
    memory, at least at the level of 'Hey, I'm done with this object. 
    Destroy it *now*, not in four days, thanks.'

-- 
Don Werve <donw@examen.com> (Unix System Administrator)

Yorn desh born, der ritt de gitt der gue,
Orn desh, dee born desh, de umn bork! bork! bork!