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

[André Roberge]

Bob Noonan wrote:

> I would love to switch our CS1 course to Python.  It seems like I am always 
> about 5-8 years ahead of my department.  After starting in 1997, it took me
> until 2003 to get our CS1 course switched from C++ to Java.
> 
> At the time we did it, I knew Python was a better choice, precisely because:
> 
> 1.  It is a good scripting language.
> 
> 2.  50% of our CS1 students never take another CS course; clearly, these 
> students are better off with Python than with Java.
> 
> The one place where Python is clearly deficient IMHO is in GUI programming.
> Tkinter (and the TK toolkit) are nowhere near the quality and simplicity of
> Swing.   Pack as a layout manager is difficult, at best.  And yes, I am aware
> of other GUI interfaces such as wxPython, but the infrastructure is not there
> to support them.  All of the Python textbooks that I am familiar with cover
> only Tkinter.
> 
Why not teach Python and, when it come to using GUI, switch to Jython? 
This can then be used as an introduction to Java...

André