[Edu-sig] Edu-sig Digest, Vol 22, Issue 26

[Arthur]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: edu-sig-bounces at python.org [mailto:edu-sig-bounces at python.org] On
> Behalf Of Toby Donaldson
> 
> Simple Python programs are usually much easier to read and simpler to
> write
> than simple Java programs, and so students new to programming really like
> it. Interestingly, some of the students who have programmed before
> sometimes
> complained that Python was just a toy scripting language, and why weren't
> we
> teaching them C++ (because that what video games are written in, don't you
> know).

The fact that CS students might resist Python on the basis of an impression
that it is a "toy scripting language" surprises me not in the least. 

Of course that is a mis-impression.

But one that has only been exasperated by an initiatives like CP4E.

Perhaps Python would be better thought of more like Lisp had been - as
something that a CS student *should* know. Because of its depth, but its
ease.

Do I have a right to resent the fact that I have needed to make myself into
a pain-in-the-ass, and face insult, within the Python community in order to
try to re-direct its thinking in approaching the educational community and
positioning Python as a factor within it.

Whether I do or not, I do.

Art