Comments on: A first programming language? http://bfpower.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/a-first-programming-language/ Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:41:19 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: l0rdn3rd http://bfpower.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/a-first-programming-language/#comment-215 l0rdn3rd Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:09:40 +0000 http://bfpower.wordpress.com/?p=88#comment-215 "good algorithms are like poems of logic" - I like this one. I have never tried Python, although I have heard about it from many different places. I will try the book you suggested. “good algorithms are like poems of logic” – I like this one. I have never tried Python, although I have heard about it from many different places. I will try the book you suggested.

]]> By: bfpower http://bfpower.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/a-first-programming-language/#comment-178 bfpower Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:23:34 +0000 http://bfpower.wordpress.com/?p=88#comment-178 "learning to think like a programmer..." So true - the Javascript book I used was terrible about this. I learned the syntax without learning how to program. This is where I think Zelle's book relaly excels - he delves into some topics of computer science (although he doesn't go into the deeper things of Python) such as encapsulation, OOP, simulation programming, and some others. I read a quote that said "good algorithms are like poems of logic." “learning to think like a programmer…”

So true – the Javascript book I used was terrible about this. I learned the syntax without learning how to program. This is where I think Zelle’s book relaly excels – he delves into some topics of computer science (although he doesn’t go into the deeper things of Python) such as encapsulation, OOP, simulation programming, and some others.

I read a quote that said “good algorithms are like poems of logic.”

]]> By: l0rdn3rd http://bfpower.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/a-first-programming-language/#comment-177 l0rdn3rd Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:19:40 +0000 http://bfpower.wordpress.com/?p=88#comment-177 I think that a good starting programming language would not only enable you to learn other languages faster, but also provoke you to think more about what programs do to the machine, and what the way to write a program is. Thus, for example, you will know that a variable is an address in memory, containing (or not containing) a value, and so on. In addition, I think that what is really important is learning to think like a programmer, which means understanding how to solve problems beautifully, rather than just learning a myriad of languages (which I guess will start happening naturally at some point). I think that a good starting programming language would not only enable you to learn other languages faster, but also provoke you to think more about what programs do to the machine, and what the way to write a program is. Thus, for example, you will know that a variable is an address in memory, containing (or not containing) a value, and so on.

In addition, I think that what is really important is learning to think like a programmer, which means understanding how to solve problems beautifully, rather than just learning a myriad of languages (which I guess will start happening naturally at some point).

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