🚀 go-pugleaf

My brother started his Computer Science major at the University
of Buffalo (actually S.U.N.Y.at B.) back when they used Pascal
in batch, and he was so disgusted that he left school and joined
the Air Force. He was at that time already fairly proficient at
Pascal. After  the Air Force, he went back to U.B., where they
were using Modula-2 for introductory computer science. He became
converted to Modula-2 even to the extent of preferring going to
school to use a terminal for Modula-2 over using Pascal on his 
PC. 

Now, he (as I would have guessed) is changing his mind. That
*&^%^#$! overworked shift key is starting to bug him, and 
Modula-2 eventually becomes a bit clumsy looking for simple
things, as he now discovers. (Not that these are major issues-
just creature comforts). He is even beginning to think that
Pascal syntax is cleaner. (I agree, but I can certainly see the
other side of the coin. I'm not Modula-2 bashing, just reporting
what seems to me an interesting attitude shift in someone who
has an interesting perspective on the issue of Pascal vs.
Modula-2 as a first language.) I think important issues can be
emphasized in either language over the other,  but the convenience
of the student in working on those interminable projects will
be the biggest factor as far as I can see.

Is anyone considering the proposed Extended Pascal as a teaching
language? Also: I think that guarded commands and concurrent
assignment are not really so advanced that students can't grasp
them, and I would like to see students learn to specify programs
more than I would like to see them bang around Pascal file I/O
(or some such other triviality) for their first course.


Later,
Andrew Mullhaupt