[Edu-sig] Re: explaining functions [Possibly OT]

[Kirby Urner]

> Writing only small programs is harmful.  Students must get the chance to
> write medium programs and to refactor them a lot.  I think that any 
> attempt at teaching good style and structure by "here is how you should 
> write" is futile.
>   Only by experiencing the hard way how is it to program without good
> structure will one learn its importance.
> 
> --
> Beni Cherniavsky <cben at users.sf.net>, who can only read email on weekends.

My approach is the same one used by other language teachers (e.g. of Spanish
or Japanese):  don't just focus on writing the stuff; read it also.  And
what you read may be quite a few notches ahead, in terms of level.  It's
easier to read that to write.

So, for example, with my Povray scene description language generator, I
don't have time to take students through reinventing that wheel.  I spring
it on them full-blown, if simplified (my complicated versions aren't so easy
to grasp).  They read it for comprehension, and as their coding skills
improve, it also becomes a place to take off from, i.e. they're able to
modify and add features.

This is true-to-life in open source work:  the first big programs you
refactor and/or modify in some way, were probably written by others.

Kirby