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Best Paradigm For a First Programming Course?
Keyper7 writes "The first programming course I had during my computer science schooling, aptly named 'Introduction to Programming,' was given in C because its emphasis was on imperative programming. A little before I graduated, though, it was decided that the focus would change to object-oriented programming with Java. (I must emphasize that the change was not made because of any hype about Java or to dumb down the course; back then and still, it's presented by good Java programmers who try to teach good practices and do not encourage excessive reliance on libraries.) But the practices taught are not paradigm-independent, and this sparked a discussion that continues to this day: which paradigm is most appropriate to introduce programming? Besides imperative and object-oriented, I know teachers who firmly believe that functional programming is the best choice. I'm interested in language-independent opinions that Slashdotters might have on this matter. Which paradigm is good to introduce programming while keeping a freshman's mind free enough for him/her to learn other paradigms afterwards?"
Unfortunately, they can't all be first.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
There are no two things more opposite to each other than OOP and functional programming. Functional programming is about FUNCTIONS, which are those that return a value that is completely determined by their arguments, not depending on, or modifying, any state. OOP is all about calling METHODS, which have values that are determined by both the arguments and the state of the object they're called on, and often are meant to modify that state.
First off, a disclaimer: I'm actually not (much) of a Python programmer--I much prefer Ruby.
However, my Dad teaches Math & Physics at the high school level, and got tapped to teach an intro to programming class this year. On my advice, he bypassed C++ (which he kind of knew) and Java, and taught it in Python using this book:
He has been absolutely delighted with the book and with how well the students have done with Python as a first language. His comment has been that he wishes he had been exposed to Python instead of (many years ago) Fortran and (more recently) C++ -- he might have actually learned to program. ;) It seems that Python's a good choice--it's an easy language to learn, supports procedural, object-oriented, and functional programming, and has all the usual advantages of a dynamic language for programmer usability.
Now if only they would do a version of that book in Ruby... :)
"He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
+1 for that.
I love functional programming but let's face it, computers are state machines and you cannot really program them without understanding how programs modify their state. Hoare. Dijkstra. Read them. Embrace them. Feel the pain of bending your mind around them.
I recommend learning at least two languages representing significantly different paradigms during a programmer's formative period. In this instance I consider C, C++, Java, C# and the lot to be in the same paradigm - procedural.
Haskell is a good language for exploring the functional paradigm. Smalltalk is good for object oriented. There are many good Prologs for learning logic relational programming. I recommend that a new programmer avoid multiparadigm languages until they have seriously explored programming in a more pure way in two or more paradigms.
I used to recommend SICP, now I recommend CTM.
Also important is to (1) enjoy the programming you are doing and (2) work on programs which do interesting things and get you feedback from others.
Unfortunately, they can't all be first.
But you can still do several in a first programming course. That's exactly what my intro CS course did. We worked with a functional language, an object-oriented language, a low-level assembly language, a logic programming language, and also theoretical constructs like finite automata.
Definitely functional programming.
I don't think functional programming is the place to start for the majority of students. A procedural language has a much more direct relationship to the underlying machine code. If you don't want to start in assembler (and I don't advocate assembler for a first language for a lot of reasons), a language like C, which is high-level enough to not get bogged down in irrelevant details while teaching basic algorithms, yet is close enough to the metal to give the students a taste of the underlying hardware, is a good compromise. Functional programming, while closer to the underlying math, is so different from the instructions the machine actually executes that students may finish the class and still not have a clear idea how what they wrote directs the machine.
That said, my first development environment was HyperCard and most of what I have done since has been OOP. When thinking about a problem, my first instinct is to objectify it. But, I think OOP involves learning too much at once to be the ideal teaching paradigm. Think of how many lines of OO exist in a Java Hello World program. And think how much of that is meaningless to the student when they're still trying to learn the basics of println.
... and that's when the C.H.U.D.'s came at me.
That explains why so many kids drop out of CS. I was greatly interested in the subject, but if my CS101 class had tried to throw all that at me and expect me to really grok it all in a single class, I would have been looking for a different major/school.
That's similar to what my first college CS course has been like. We used SICP and it was a really interesting semester. We did functional, OO, client/server, and logic programming (or well those were the 4 paradigms that the prof considered the main ones) and it was pretty interesting. Since most people came in with OO experience only, doing functional programming through people for a loop at first. Of course, we did it all in Scheme, which is a cool language, too.
All your base are belong to Wii.
"Functional programming" != "Program with functions in it"
doing functional programming through people for a loop at first.
Wow, that sounds pretty advanced. Functional programming, with loops, through people. I've never even heard of that new paradigm.
Rather than a specific paradigm, you should focus on what almost all languages have in common. Almost all languages operate on statements. They have variables to store data. They get input and produce output. These simple concepts are mind-numbingly dull for anyone with experience, but most new students I've seen haven't done programming before. I feel that students should enter the world of programming with some understanding of the terms used and the core functions. To this end, my personal opinion is to use a language like the old (not Visual) BASICs.
It is sad that BASIC has fallen out of favor now. Complaints of bad code, lack of power, and old age have tarnished its good reputation with little real reason. Most of the complaints I hear stem from seeing BASIC code in environments where it simply doesn't make sense. As an educational tool, it's the perfect introduction.
If I were ever to teach such a course, the first day would be a simple program, that just ENDs. Consider the basic concept there. The program starts at the beginning and runs until it's told to stop. It runs a single command. Such a simple program also allows time to understand the process of compiling. Next, I would introduce data, using a Hello World program (with an END statement, of course). There, we get data, output, and commands running in series. Again, these concepts are things we take for granted, but are of vital importance.
I'd move on to input, assigning variables, order of operations (8th grade WAS good for something!), and probably some basic conditions. If I were really into it, I'd throw in some logical operations for good measure. With the commands being in plain English, it's easier to ignore the details of the language, and focus on what the statement actually does. Best of all, there's no extra code with no apparent purpose. No importing or including libraries at the top of the program, no class declaration, just meaningful code.
After that comes the most important part of any BASIC curriculum: abandoning BASIC. Move to functions, or objects, or whatever popular concept strikes your (or better yet, the students') fancy, and don't return to BASIC again. By that time, the student should have a solid understanding of how general programming works, so they can focus on adapting to whatever paradigm comes next. In fact, I'd recommend against even telling the students they were using an unstructured language. Use BASIC as a way to understand the code itself, before trying to understand how it fits into the big picture of the program.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.