[Edu-sig] Re: Losing the Plot

[Kirby Urner]

>
>of Computer Programs, and Foundations of Programming) because although
>SICP is written using Lisp as the example and FoP cuts across languages

Actually, SICP also uses Scheme, but MIT Scheme instead of PLT Scheme
(i.e. DrScheme) -- I don't know what all the variations are (an advantage
of Python is it has fewer variations -- mainly it has extensions, in
specific libraries, that are platform specific).

>I come from a psych and philosophy background, and this taps into a

Me too (philosophy background).

>Indeed - math has made a science of the algorithm. Yet I can't help but
>wonder whether or not it is the emphasis on math and such technicality
>that tends to leave many feeling excluded from (or reluctant to attempt)
>programming. Consequently, this emphasis might have a tendency to elide

That's a good point too.  I take a page from the explosive popularity
of fractals. Here was a grass-roots, up welling of interest on the part
of not math-specialists.  With computers, we can do art.  Math and art
may be bridged, especially through geometry, and here especially is
where computers really shine (PyGeo is a good example) -- much more so
than calculators.

>the creativity and the *art* that is also a seemingly key aspect of
>programming. Perhaps then, both and ... altho' the relative time of
>introduction might be an important consideration.

Exactly.

Kirby