[seul-edu] language advocacy

[Timothy Wilson <wilson@visi.com>]

Hi everyone,

I'm going to throw in my $0.02 here and recommend Python 
(http://www.python.org/) as a teaching language. I've never used LOGO so I
can't say whether it's superior to Python for teaching young students, but I
can recommend it wholeheartedly for young people who demonstrate more
interest and proficiency in programming. (There are other languages that are
certainly worth recommending too, but Python has a number of things going
for it.)

Here is a short list of Python advantages:

* The interactive interpretor lets you program on the fly and get immediate
feedback on your work. I often do simple prototyping this way before working
with my text editor.
* Python is cross-platform. Most Python programs will run unchanged from Mac
to Linux to Windows.
* The Python community, and specifically Guido Van Rossum, Python's creator,
are great supporters of using Python in education and are a great resource.
[1,2]
* Several excellent listservs are available for coaching and discussions.
[3]
* You can begin with very simple Python programs and progress to powerful,
fully object oriented programs.
* A wealth of 3rd-party modules are available. (Though I don't think it can
match CPAN...yet.) [4]
* Python is being used heavily in some very cool applications by some very
cool companies. [5]
* ESR and Bruce Eckel can't be wrong. [6,7] :-)

I will be teaching an introductory computer programming course at Sibley
next fall. I've decided to use Python for all of the reasons listed
above. I'm developing a CD-ROM containing all the available Python
documentation, lots of tutorials from around the Web, and Python software
that will be distributed in the fall to all of my students. I'll let
everyone know when it's ready.

-Tim

References
==========
1. Guido developed a proposal called CP4E (Computer Programming For
Everyone) that promotes an approach to programming that makes it
accessible for all. His proposal is online at
http://www.python.org/cp4e/.

2. Python edu-sig (Special Interest Group for education) promotes Python
use for teaching all sorts of skills (too many to mention here). Their
homepage is http://www.python.org/sigs/edu-sig/.

3. A list of all Python SIGs is at http://www.python.org/sigs/.

4. The Vaults of Parnassus is the official source of Python modules. See
http://www.vex.net/parnassus/.

5. Mark Lutz mentions several commercial uses of Python in his brief
introduction to the language at
http://shell.rmi.net/~lutz/about-python.html.

6. Eric S. Raymond answers the question "Why Python" is a Linux Journal
article at http://noframes.linuxjournal.com/lj-issues/issue73/3882.html

7. Bruce Eckel is a huge Python fan too. Listen to an interview with him at
the the Python9 conference at
http://www.technetcast.com/tnc_stream.html?stream_id=466

--
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