The Java language is perfect for computer science. For the following reasons:
It is an excellent OO language, although I agree that Smalltask or Lisp is actually more of a pure OO language.
Java syntax is extremely similar to C and C++, so for those not familiar with the Java libraries should still be able to communicate their ideas in the language.
The best reason I would argue for the use of java, however, is the libraries. For someone that did complete a CS program it is refreshing to review the basic API and be able to relate basic CS concepts to Java classes. Java has basic concept classes defined for their library like Stacks, LinkedList, TreeSet, HashSet, Collections, Sets, Maps, etc. These basic classes directly relate to basic CS concepts.
It is also a relatively strong typed language to aid in a beginning programmers ability to learn how to code correctly.
Java also has one of the best debugging mechanisms in the stack trace. If beginning students are taught to use this correctly, it blows away debuggers in its ability to point you to the exact line of source code where the error was thrown.
Other languages have their place in the world for various reasons and by far I am not claiming Java as the best language for every real world situation. However, for education and testing, Java is an ideal started language. My CS program started us in Pascal. Pascal is a great learning language also but is very different than Java or C++, and therefore I think it less beneficial to the student for a real world job they may obtain in the future.
But I shouldn't expect the script masters of slashdot to understand this... Maybe the true OO developers will...
You are amazingly enlightened. It does astound me that, in general, we find it so easy to curse the beast that we have created. Much like Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, we constructed this empire with such fervor and determination, then recoil in horror and disgust that the empire does not behave the way we intended.
However, much like Frankenstein, there does come a point where that we which have wrought cannot be undone by the creators. Sure, it is easy to say that we can kill the beast since it is the people that are sustaining it. I argue, however, that while it only takes a few to create these empires, it takes many to actually kill it. Unfortunately, those of us that I consider unwitting participants in this initial endeavor do not compose the entire group that began these dark ventures. I believe some have begun the process of scorning these empires, but way too many have been tainted by the darker side never to turn back.
My college philosophy professor once stated that society in general will not change until the things that cause us pain are brought to an extreme. Then the society will general react to the other extreme to solve the problem until it finally settles into the median range again.
The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream. -William Shakespeare
For my own part, regret nothing. Have lived life, free from compromise... and step into the shadow now without complaint. -Hermann Rorschach
Slashdot Mirror
Other languages have their place in the world for various reasons and by far I am not claiming Java as the best language for every real world situation. However, for education and testing, Java is an ideal started language. My CS program started us in Pascal. Pascal is a great learning language also but is very different than Java or C++, and therefore I think it less beneficial to the student for a real world job they may obtain in the future.
But I shouldn't expect the script masters of slashdot to understand this... Maybe the true OO developers will...
You are amazingly enlightened. It does astound me that, in general, we find it so easy to curse the beast that we have created. Much like Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, we constructed this empire with such fervor and determination, then recoil in horror and disgust that the empire does not behave the way we intended.
However, much like Frankenstein, there does come a point where that we which have wrought cannot be undone by the creators. Sure, it is easy to say that we can kill the beast since it is the people that are sustaining it. I argue, however, that while it only takes a few to create these empires, it takes many to actually kill it. Unfortunately, those of us that I consider unwitting participants in this initial endeavor do not compose the entire group that began these dark ventures. I believe some have begun the process of scorning these empires, but way too many have been tainted by the darker side never to turn back.
My college philosophy professor once stated that society in general will not change until the things that cause us pain are brought to an extreme. Then the society will general react to the other extreme to solve the problem until it finally settles into the median range again.
The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream. -William Shakespeare
For my own part, regret nothing. Have lived life, free from compromise... and step into the shadow now without complaint. -Hermann Rorschach
shadowspires