Wow, the Brian Harvey essay you linked to is exactly what I was hoping to find. A down-to-earth explanation of the benefits, as opposed to Dijkstra's formalism

Wow, the Brian Harvey essay you linked to is exactly what I was hoping to find. A down-to-earth explanation of the benefits, as opposed to Dijkstra's formalism and its potential to alienate non-programmers (in fairness, I only read the first half of it, getting late here). Thanks! Your explanation is of course along the same lines, and rings true, but I need a "source of authority" (if I can even get someone to listen). Sadly, pre-reading and "honors" are not options at my school, certainly not when a lowly TA pitches them. But this Harvey essay, this might actually work... :-)