[PLUG] Teaching My Son To Program

[Randal L. Schwartz]

>>>>> "Jeff" == Jeff Schwaber <freyley at gmx.net> writes:

Jeff> Python is syntactically simpler than Perl, or in fact, any major
Jeff> language, which makes it a great learning language.

Not a universal opinion, by the way, on any of those counts.

(For example, Perl v Python is merely a matter of exposure and
familiarity.)

But you knew that.

No, I'm not arguing for Perl. :-)

But Smalltalk is probably about the syntactically simplest language
(other than Lisp :), and is a much better learning language,
especially for OO concepts.

See www.squeak.org, and look for "Squeak: Object-Oriented Design with
Multimedia Applications" by Mark Guzdial (copies sitting on the
Powell's shelf right now), for a good cross-platform *real* IDE and
great learning environment.  Also check out www.squeakland.org for how
Squeak is being used in training environments.

-- 
Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095
<merlyn at stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
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