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> You can't really learn C without also learning to use a debugger News to me. I learned C in '85 from the K&R book and the project lead for our little startu
by eternalban 8y ago
> You can't really learn C without also learning to use a debugger
News to me.
I learned C in '85 from the K&R book and the project lead for our little startup's Fortran to C translator. No debuggers were involved as far as I can remember.
[p.s. as to "why" teach C. I know many languages at this point, but that initial exposure to C necessitated a deeper understanding of 'the machine', memory management, etc. The core of C is fairly straight forward and imho an excellent pedagogical vehicle for a 'substantial' understanding of "programming".]
- canhascodez 8y agoThe machine being used is completely incidental to programming. Dijkstra used a fountain pen. Which is more fundamental, the machine, or its mathematical abstraction? Why should people learn C, and not Lisp?
- eternalban 8y agoI wonder if Dijkstra used paper clips or rubber bands for "linking". (CS =/= Programming)
- canhascodez 8y agoPerhaps you could do me the favor of answering my question.
- eternalban 8y agoWhy should I bother with a red herring? We were discussing programming and not computer science.
- canhascodez 8y agoWhy teach C and not Lisp?
- notacoward 8y agoOK, I'll amend my statement. You'll waste a lot of time if you try to learn from or work on any substantial C codebase without knowing how to use a debugger. Some people have a lot of time to waste, but that doesn't make it a good idea.