On Sun, Jan 17, 1999 at 05:05:48AM +0100, Antonio A. Rivas Ojanguren wrote: > ><snip> > >I think that it is worth considering skipping the Pascal stage and > >going straight to C, or equivalent languages. Taking this approach a bit > >further, I think it is even worth considering going straight to C++, > >perhaps > >by talking first about the procedural aspects of C++ and only then, as a > >second stage, talking about the OOP aspects. > ><snip> > > Are you crazy? He's a begginner and he wants learn programming not to get > mad.
I agree with him. Yes, he is a beginner. However, OO programming and procedural programming are different enough. If you teach the bad habits you get in C first, it is harder to change to a type safe and well organized OO programming language. > How can you run if you don't know how to walk? If you want to learn > programming the best language is Pascal: > a) It's closer to the natural language than C and, of course, C++, and all > of us think in our own natural language (english, spanish, french, german, > etc...) and this is the first language we use when we develope a program. This can also be a disadvantage, because programming _is_ much unlike natural language. > b) It forces you to make a highly structured code. Bad programming habits > appears easier with C than with Pascal. Then you should advocate C++, because it is type safe and enforces much more organization than C or Pascal. Procedural programming is more structured than BASIC, but OO programming is much more structured than procedural programming. > Learn C is not necessary the way to understand linux. To understand linux > you must know how to programm devices like controllers, video cards, sound > cards, etc..., and programm devices is something that you can do with Pascal > also. This I agree with. However, reading C code written by experts requries some understanding of C on its own. You can start with any language. For a complete beginner, I would advocate Scheme. Even if you don't want to do big projects in Scheme, you can start very fast. A good book on programming (using Scheme) is Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Abelson/Sussman. Marcus -- "Rhubarb is no Egyptian god." Debian GNU/Linux finger brinkmd@ Marcus Brinkmann http://www.debian.org master.debian.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] for public PGP Key http://homepage.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Marcus.Brinkmann/ PGP Key ID 36E7CD09
