Pascal as a first language [or any language for that matter]
J.S.Jonas
> "When the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to think of
> everything else as a nail."
> Arpanet: A...@SALLY.UTEXAS.EDU
> UUCP: {gatech,harvard,ihnp4,pyramid,siesmo}!ut-sally!ark
I agree wholeheartedly.
I don't think the first language matters as much as your first
impression, attitude and technique.
I started programming in Junior H.S., but that was just
playing with the equivalent of a programmable calculator
(a compucorp 025 educator).
In high school (Francis Lewis HS, Queens, N.Y.)
I learned programming as part of pre-calculus. We handled
programming like a lab experiment - we plan the
expected results and how we expect to achieve them.
We had to *solve the problem* and understand it before
writing a single line of code. The problem dictated the solution
(ie - the structure of the problem dictates the structure of the
program and what tools to use [language, libraries], not
vice versa).
ex: the teacher says "we will do iterative techniques" and develops
an algorithm (like area under a curve using trapezoids) by hand.
At this point, we can do the problem by hand (and calculator).
Then we code it and see how a do-loop is used.
What is *NOT* done is "we will learn loops" and find problems that
do-loops are used for. Get the difference? It's like choosing
a hammer for the nail, or a nail for the hammer.
Continuing the toolbox analogy, knowing one language is like
like using a hammer for everything. If all you know is to
bang away, you will be able to do anything solved by a hammer,
but not everything is solved with a hammer.
Jeff Skot
{ihnp4 | allegra | cbosgd} attunix ! jeffj