On 12/13/06, Bulat Ziganshin
Hello Joachim,
Wednesday, December 13, 2006, 2:17:08 AM, you wrote:
Actually, it's quite simple: following the ideology de jour and teaching-relevant support.
are you remember title of Wirth's book? "algorithms + data structures = programs". i think that Haskell is ideal language for teaching programming now (like Pascal was in 80's), because it teaches how to develop algorithms instead of focusing on implementation details. of course, you are right that fashion and availability drives actual teachers selection
That's a good point too. Actually, though, my original comment about understanding the reasons for programming language adoption was not just meant to refer to adoption in an educational context, but also to the reasons why people adopt the languages they do for commercial (or research or free software) projects, as well; so, I don't think it's quite *that* simple, although I should have been more clear. Cheers, Kirsten -- Kirsten Chevalier* chevalier@alum.wellesley.edu *Often in error, never in doubt "Base eight is just like base ten, really... if you're missing two fingers." -- Tom Lehrer