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"I used to give the the option of doing either MySQL or SQLite" SQLite is good choise for absolute beginners. Later, when teaching "real" multi-user RDBMSes,
by Yaggo 10y ago
"I used to give the the option of doing either MySQL or SQLite"
SQLite is good choise for absolute beginners.
Later, when teaching "real" multi-user RDBMSes, although MySQL may be more popular, it makes more sense to teach PostgreSQL as "default open source database". Both will do the job, but PostgreSQL has got more stuff right from the beginning, which is especially important when learning. Think PHP vs. Python, PHP may cut few corners but it's not ideal language for teaching generic concepts.
- yannis 10y ago>Think PHP vs. Python, PHP may cut few corners but it's not ideal language for teaching generic concepts. Maybe not even Python, suggest go or rust. My generation we started learning CS with Pascal and moved to C, when we had a bit more understanding.
- StavrosK 10y agoI think it's "Python will teach you more about programming, C will teach you more about computers".
- jstimpfle 10y agoI'm not intimate with Go, but I figure its clean and simple design makes it a good first language; and in particular a good preparation for C, because of its focus on memory layout. Rust? NO! One of the worst choices for a first language. Similar to C++, Rust is really heavy on concepts.
- danso 10y agoSQLite teaches virtually all of the necessary concepts to jump right into a multi-user RDBMS, even most of the syntax, with the exception of being more lax about datatypes. My audience is not people intending to build applications, but to do data analysis beyond what they can do in your typical spreadsheet. I don't think the PHP vs. Python analogy is particularly accurate. I don't feel that PHP is easier to learn than Python unless the main goal is to produce something public-facing on the web. Nevermind that the syntax is significantly different.