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I don't know if I should feel good about this. I graduated from UMich back in 2015, and we tend to do a lot of the core CS courses in C++. After working full ti
by tzhenghao 9y ago
I don't know if I should feel good about this. I graduated from UMich back in 2015, and we tend to do a lot of the core CS courses in C++. After working full time for ~2 years, learning to code on a lower level helped me understand computers better and write better code.
There are kids around my age group who don't do as much C/C++ and dislike it because of the "pointer" concepts. They find them hard, but these guys also don't know other CS concepts like how a GC works or pass by value vs. pass by reference.
Our professors have good reasoning for why the school does this: "By teaching you everything in C++ first, you'll find it much easier to pick up any other programming language".
- thomastjeffery 9y agoPointers aren't the bad thing about C++. Syntax, templates, etc. are. C++ is a mess, and there are plenty of better alternatives.
- techman9 9y agoPython is probably as effective as C++ for preparing students for more challenging CS classes in other languages [0] [0] https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1734437 https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1734437
- jcrawfordor 9y agoThanks a lot for this reference. Do you happen to know of any other research in this area? I'm looking for academic work on the topic myself and not finding as much as I'd hoped for.
- techman9 9y agoAny other research about languages in CS1 or about CS1 generally? An easy way to find a bunch: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C48&q=languages+in+CS1 https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C48&q=lan... ;) On another note, SIGCSE just ended so you can find all the latest and greatest here: https://sigcse2018.sigcse.org/index.html https://sigcse2018.sigcse.org/index.html