[clue-tech] Son's PC and intro to programming

[daniel aguilar]

I appreciate all the input and opinions from folks who
have gone through the process of learning programming.
I'll have to do some more digging butI'm close to a
decision.  

Thanks all!

daniel

--- Christopher J Pomasl <pomasl at starband.net> wrote:

> On Wed February 15 2006 11:53 am, Keith Hellman so
> notably scribed:
> > On Wed, Feb 15, 2006 at 09:19:41AM -0800, daniel
> aguilar wrote:
> > > Suggestions on a good BEGINNERS programming
> language
> > > would be welcomed; linux based the better.
> >
> > I think the programming language he'll have the
> *MOST* success with is
> > the one *YOUR* most familiar with.   I'm willing
> to bet that at some
> > point in the near future your son will become
> frustrated with a hurdle
> > in his programming knowledge, when he turns to you
> for help and *you*
> > have a hard time figuring it out (because he's
> learning X language, and
> > you know R, S, and T) it might give him the
> impression that programming
> > is never easy.
> >
> > If I were in your shoes, I'd have him learn a
> first language that I
> > know well.  Then if he wants to learn another,
> perhaps not one I'm
> > familiar with, we'd simply sit down and learn it
> together.
> >
> > Just my 2c.
> 
> I actually like this advice and would add the
> following:
> I was going to say that any language that will teach
> the basic concepts of the 
> logical structures that all/most languages use:
> IF/THEN/ELSE
> CASE
> DO WHILE
> DO UNTIL
> Function calling
> Procedure calling
> External calls
> OO concepts
> 
> Once these are learned CONCEPTUALLY in one language,
> any other language is 
> easier to learn as the differences are usually
> semantics/syntax rather than a 
> true difference of concept.  If you are teaching,
> teach for CONCEPT as well 
> as the syntactical nuances of a particular language
> to make a more well 
> rounded student.
> 
> In college I learned COBOL.  I started work by
> learning 360/ASM and thought it 
> would have helped to know the underlying machine
> concepts BEFORE learning 
> COBOL but thinking back I think knowing the concept
> of the logical structure 
> helped immensely in learning ASM and ASM helped me
> understand how the HLL is 
> structured and why.  It's a delicate balance but I
> think the knowledge of the 
> machine's language is most helpful in knowing how to
> program for efficiency 
> rather than bloat!  In other words, know how the HLL
> is going to treat a 
> segment of code so you know what the
> machine/compiler is going to do with 
> it!!
> 
> Chris
> 
> 
> -- 
> Christopher J Pomasl
> Senior Software Engineer, Computer Associates
> Always remember, you are unique...just like everyone
> else.
> IBM Certified, DB2 Z/OS V7 Administration, User
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> 


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