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"Processing Recursive Lists" is a good example of how Python is abused for all sorts of things. If this is actually taught, I'm no longer surprised by the code
by qpax 6y ago
"Processing Recursive Lists" is a good example of how Python is abused for all sorts of things.
If this is actually taught, I'm no longer surprised by the code that I encounter in the wild.
- BiteCode_dev 6y agoI concur, this book is a terrible way to introduce anybody to Python. I imagine they want to teach general programming skills, and hence want to give you a "way to think" that is low level enough to let you work with any language, using Python as a pseudo-code to demonstrate it. This approach is doomed to fail. It's much better to teach the language properly, then introduce other languages as a comparison point, if this is what you want. I don't get the stellar reputation of this text, maybe it was great when it was written for Scheme, but as-is, I can't see most of my students even finding the motivation to reading it.
- ylyn 6y agoSICP shouldn't really be taught in any language other than Scheme, or a language designed specifically for teaching SICP. It doesn't make sense otherwise.
- hhmc 6y agoIt could probably work in an ML variant like SML.
- noah_buddy 6y agoTo disagree with you, I took the Python version of UCB's CS61A and I learned quite a lot (especially coming from a non-programming background). Perhaps other forms of SICP are better, but CS61A was a really enjoyable course overall and was part of the reason I decided to switch majors to Computer Science.