Vision Statement
David MacQuigg
> Good addition.
>
> One other impression: I guess the 'just enough' is OK, with the rest
> of the verbiage. The idea you want is that users can get whatever
> they want, including not being inundated, if that is their desire.
> Just enough can also be code for not going very far; barely
> sufficient; substandard, but with all the scenarios you give, I guess
> those connotations would not stick.
The "just enough" phrase is from Paul Andersen's book "Just Enough
Unix". Unless you are going to be a Unix system administrator, you can
do without 95% of what is in most Unix books.
This seems to fit our mission very well - getting to the core of math or
science or even CS with just enough syntax to do what we need. When I
look at the best high school level texts - Litvin and Zelle, I see them
doing exactly that - introducing the programming one bit at a time, just
enough to get through the chapter, never enough to distract from the
topic at hand.
I see what you are saying about the wrong connotations, however, so we
will need to be careful about using this phrase in the wrong context.
We don't want any CS students to think "just enough" is not a good lead
into the full sequence of courses.
An AP Java student might think it is a waste of time to study such
simple syntax as Python, but then he can rush through the exercises, get
an easy A, and spend the time on his other classes. PyWhip will avoid
having lectures where students are struggling with syntax. On the other
hand, if this student is the sort who is just good at memorizing crap
and passing tests, without understanding the fundamentals. he will be
surprised when the non-CS majors do better on the tests.
-- Dave