[Edu-sig] Ruby in the Curriculum

[kirby urner]

On Sat, Nov 8, 2008 at 4:38 AM, David MacQuigg <macquigg at ece.arizona.edu> wrote:
> At 04:10 PM 11/7/2008 -0800, kirby urner wrote:
>
>>Ruby also good at integrating OpenGL, expect lots of good curriculum
>>writing for that language already in the pipeline.
>
> Wouldn't it be better to port the good stuff to Python?  Same for Ruby-on-Rails.  The more we fork, the longer it will take to get Python where it belongs, ahead of Java in our curriculums, preferably at the Freshmen level or earlier, with Java, C++, Ruby, etc. for those who are going to be full-time programmers.
>

Yeah, I'd say it's up to each school, as the field may have morphed to
the point where consensus on any "one right way to go" has
disappeared, replaced by more complex demographics.

Java is still a good choice but many will tell you it's easier to
learn Python first, plus that gives you the Jython option, access to
more graphical libraries (I've not explored this much myself yet --
trying to do something highly geospatial in Jython).

I also wonder whether a four or two year college is the best way to
cut your chops for private sector computing.  But does the word "best"
have much operational significance here?  Different strokes for
different folks, is what it comes down to.

Sometimes, when hiring, it's that kid out of high school, the Django
jockey, looking for some experience before considering more schooling,
who stands out in the interviews, other times its that curmudgeony guy
with the tweedy jacket and three degrees.

I was at Powell's Technical recently, taking snap shots of Python vs.
Ruby vs. Perl vs. Lisp in terms of shelf space, came up with 3, 5, 3,
1 respectively.  Here're the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315@N00/3001184136/ (Perl)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315@N00/3001183926/ (Lisp)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315@N00/3000344665/ (Ruby)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315@N00/3000344479/ (Python)

Of course Java took up tons of shelves, as did Microsoft Access.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315@N00/3000343821/

Kirby