Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 14:52:58 -0400 From: Tim Vanderhoek <ac199@hwcn.org> To: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Dag-Erling_Coidan_Sm=F8rgrav?= <smoergrd@oslo.geco-prakla.slb.com> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Beginning user's OS (was: Here is a really odd question!!!) Message-ID: <19980703145257.B2598@zappo> In-Reply-To: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=3Crx4ogv7gsne=2Efsf=40oslo=2Egeco-prakla=2Eslb=2Ecom=3E?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?=3B_from_Dag-Erling_Coidan_Sm=F8rgrav_on_Fri=2C_Jul_03=2C?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?_1998_at_12:01:25PM_%2B0200?= References: <19980703010915.6825.qmail@hotmail.com> <19980703124514.H358@freebie.lemis.com> <19980703022310.B4457@zappo> <rx4n2ar1ja4.fsf@oslo.geco-prakla.slb.com> <19980703111031.39367@follo.net> <rx4ogv7gsne.fsf@oslo.geco-prakla.slb.com>
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On Fri, Jul 03, 1998 at 12:01:25PM +0200, Dag-Erling Coidan Smørgrav wrote: > Would *you* teach an eleven-year old > to program with a compiled language? Of course you wouldn't. You'd > choose an interpreted language where subtle typos don't shoot your > leg off. I disagree. I would teach an interpreted language, but not because of the "subtle-typo-shooting-your-leg-off" reason, but because an interpreted language is a great way to stretch your mind. Some of the things you can are really wicked, but also non-obvious. We would never let anyone write a self-modifying compiled program now-a-days, but all of that and more is allowed for interpreted programs. Yes, self-modifying programs are bad style, but from the perspective of _instruction_, they can be an excellent exercise. Of course, they'll have to learn standard C syntax sometime. And C seems to have a kind of romantic cultural attraction for a lot of kids who know nothing about programming. -- This .sig is not innovative, witty, or profund. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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