July 3, 2006
10:56 p.m.
Much though the Algol 60 tickles my nostalgia (it was my first programming language!) I don't think that it's a particularly strong argument. I like to think that we have better ways these days.
Even if so, that's not the point I was trying to make. The point is that there is a programming technique that is widely used, works in many languages, and has been around for 45 years; and when you try to use it in Python, it fails. I believe that such failures, even if there are alternative ways of solving the problems that engender them, are barriers to learning that should be removed if it is possible to do so without substantial cost.