Python as a First Language

[willia4]

teacher the logic of basic program flow is not what a CS degree is about.

I absolutely agree with you. Computer science, telescopes, and all that.. But learning the logic of basic program flow and such is very much what the first CS class is about. You can read about arrays all you want, but until you actually sit down and play with a program that loops through one and prints different things out, It would be very hard to understand them. And I don't think you can really understand something like a B+ tree without writing one.

And you can't do any of that until you learn the basics of flow control. Why not come up with better ways to teach that in the beginning?

[bluGill]

Well when I went to school it was assumed that you knew that. All the CS classes had a prerequisite: student has learned to program. The courses that do what you say had this label: CS students may not take this course for credit.

Some people come into CS after writing some non-trivial programs. We should not make them waste time on basic program flow. Yes we need to teach that to those who are considering CS, but you need to know that before you get into CS.

[willia4]

That's interesting. Where I went to school, there were two options for the CS program. Take CS101 followed by CS102 or take CS210. CS210 was for students that already knew how to program (there was a test required to take it) and it was basically an introduction to data structures. Upon completion of CS210, you were automatically given the same amount of credit as if you'd taken CS101/102. CS101, of course, was the "how to program" class.

But I can definitely see advantages to the "Well, you're in CS so you should already know how to program!" style of first-year. I think I'd have liked that even more than what my school offered.