🚀 go-pugleaf

On 18 Jan 96 12:38 am, carvaines.1@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu (Steven 
William Carvaines) writes: 
> As part of our computer science curriculum at Ohio State, we learn 
  > 
Modula-2 as one of our 'first' languages (we also learn Pascal).  I've
  > 
checked with a few potential employers, and none of them need anyone 
with 
  > 
Modula-2 experience.  Most don't even know what Modula-2 is.  I've been
  > 
told by professors that learning Modula-2 is a stepping stone for 
learning 
  > 
other languages.  I don't buy that.  So my question is this:  has anyone
  > 
come across an employer who uses Modula-2? It would be a shame to become
  > 
proficient in it and never use it again.
  > 

  > 
Thanks,
  > 

  > 
Steve
  > 

  > 

Well, we do. So does Boeing, McDonnell Douglas (I think) and a number of
military and aviations developers who need compact executables and code 
reliablility (something that C has a difficult time providing). 

And yes, it's a stepping stone. Have you ever seen C code from a student
who only knows C? I have, and it's ugly, and unmaintainable. Modula-2 
gives you something to compare with - it's readable in nature (i.e. you 
have to try to make it hard to read), and quite strict, so the compiler 
lets you know when you're doing something that's potentially disastrous.
When they give you C in the follwing year, you will quickly develop an 
appreciation for readable code that should carry on into future 
languages. 

For this reason, we don't even _consider_ hiring someone who does not 
have experience in eithe Modula-2 or Pascal. The people whom we made 
exceptions for all produced garbage, even in their 'native' language. I 
suspect it's because they did not appreciate the fact that other might 
have to read to debug their code... 


Cheers,

Jan

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