Re: Programming languages for the very young
From: m-coughlin (m-coughlin_at_comcast.net)
Date: 01/26/04
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 18:56:23 GMT
"Mark A. Washburn" wrote:
>
> Joe Marshall <prunesquallor@comcast.net> wrote in message
> <snip>
> > Certainly there are many computer whizzes that could use a
> > little help with their English, but I think there are as many
> > English majors who would benefit from a computer science
> > course (*not* a computer literacy course, but a real
> > programming course). Writing programs is a great way to
> > learn critical thinking.
>
> As critical thinking is for writing good programs.
>
> Currently my academic recommendation for
> "Introduction to Programming" focuses on a
> single language ... Forth ...; And continues thru
> advanced programming. With Forth as a starting focus
> for learning programming, many directions for opportunities
> in /critical thinking/ are opened simultaneously;
> from the lowest levels of assembler and assembly language
> programming thru the highest levels of problem solving,
> in general, and, more specifically, including structured
> programming, functional programming, object oriented design
> and language compiler design ( ANSI Forth is a nearly ideal
> prototyping tool for language design ).
[snip]
There are many good reasons for using Forth. There is one
overwhelming reason for not using it, especially for new or very
young computer students. There is little useful training
material. There is much information on Forth for computer
hackers -- those people who know a lot about computers already,
can reverse engineer code and remember cryptic abbreviations.
Experts in other languages, such as Scheme, Java, Logo, and even
C and C++, go out of their way to write beginners books and
these can be found easily. The only such books on Forth have to
be ordered online. This was not always the case. Twenty years
ago you could go into a bookstore and find the best book on
programming was "Starting Forth" by Leo Brodie. Nowadays Forth
programmers regret the unavailability of such a book on Forth,
but they do not recognize this as the absolute disaster it is.
Forth is a powerful language that enables individuals to
write and publish their own versions of program development
systems. But these are almost always beta versions needing
documentation. No Forth programmer has ever made a package that
could be used in the lower grades to teach children or even (a
much harder job) to teach elementary school teachers something
about programming. It could be done, but there is no Forth
programmer who seems to be interested. It would require a
complete change of emphasis, from writing creative code for
machines to writing clear literature for human beings.
-- Michael Coughlin m-coughlin@comcast.net Cambridge, MA USA
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