quoth JK
Anyway this threads degenerates a bit, and begins to contain statements I find dubious, or too restricted, e.g.,
A beginning student doesn't need to learn OOP in any kind of depth.
I suspect that the author of this phrase was not yet born when I began to teach programming... Now, I would never dare to declare what a beginning student *really needs*.
Then at least, you don't disagree! FYI, I was already 4 when Lisp was invented, so computer programming pedagogy when I was born - that must have been a dry job, my hat is off to fellows like you!
... Programming is a kind of art, a fragment of culture, a vision of the world, and the Pursuit of Happiness is different for different people. Linguists (or historians, etc.) may *begin* with logic/relational programming, biologists with objects, and mathematically-oriented yougsters, with FP.
Or not.
Is it a stretch, to hope that they will find beauty in it? Donn