Learning programming via C will force you to understand data structures like lists, queues and hash tables better purely for the reason that C does not provide them in the standard library.
C++/Java/Python do via STL and standard libraries respectively. Generalizing C++ with C shows how misunderstood C++ is. C++ is not C with stuff bolted on. Teaching C in the first year of engineering compared to a language like Python, Lua or Ruby is a sure way of turning off students to the joys of programming. Not everybody needs to know how to implement a linked list and a queue. A vast majority of technical graduates go on to do programming either as software developers and/or engineers in other streams do NOT have to do low level programming. If they were taught to solve problems using a dynamic language like Python/Lua/Ruby instead of twiddling bits, we would see newer applications being built by non-CS graduates in their domains. Oh well, why would CS professors be concerned about productivity. A lot of my mechanical engineering classmates(who were bright students) where scared to death of FORTRAN and C, because C made it so difficult to do simple things like Computer Graphics (which is what they wanted to accomplish in the CAD lab). A library like Pygame would have allowed them to write CG apps and CAD programs without racking brains about C and pointers. +PG On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 10:22 AM, prasanna diwadkar <pdiwad...@yahoo.com>wrote: > > I was talking in general.I am not saying python/java programmers are lesser > quality than C/C++ .Ultimately programming is a programming is a > programming. > Since 80s to late 90s many Indian/foreign(US etc) have been teaching > programming in C/C++.When I talked to 2 ex-professors in India,they observed > that the rigor when students go through using c/++ is higher than > java/python.For.e.g.manipulation of linked list,hash table.IMO better > programming is not just understaning the layers of abstraction but > understanding some intracacies,what goes below the hood. > > Regards > PD > > --- On *Thu, 1/22/09, Sridhar Ratnakumar <sridhar.ra...@gmail.com>* wrote: > > From: Sridhar Ratnakumar <sridhar.ra...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [BangPypers] how to learn programming > To: "Bangalore Python Users Group - India" <bangpypers@python.org> > Date: Thursday, January 22, 2009, 11:50 PM > > > On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 11:29 PM, Darkseid <lorddae...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > >> have found those how have programmed in C/C++ are generally better(in > >> problem solving) than who program in other languages. > > > > I would disagree quite strongly based on my experience. I don't thing > C/C++ > > programmers are any worse, but they certainly aren't any better on > average. > > What I have observed in my particular area of work (which has an emphasis > on > > OO) is that C/C++ programmers are least likely to respect good OO > practices, > > followed closely by Java/C# folks. > > I'm guessing that Prasanna was thinking of ACM ICPC kind of problems > when he claimed that C/C++ is better in problem solving. These kind of > problems require the contestant to write code so that they run within > a given time limit.. a restriction which forces one to write it on > C/C++ than a high-level language. > > BTW, if one is just starting to learn programming.. I hear HtDP is > pretty good - http://htdp.org/ > _______________________________________________ > BangPypers mailing > listbangpyp...@python.orghttp://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/bangpypers > > > > _______________________________________________ > BangPypers mailing list > BangPypers@python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/bangpypers > >
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