[Edu-sig] Overloading (was Re: more on "variable names")

[Laura Creighton]

I no longer think that the problem is that the '=' symbol is overloaded.
I now believe that the problem is that when we, as teachers teach Python,
we read a = b as
'a equals b'

and if we forbid that language usage of the word equals, and always said
'a is bound to b'
instead, then, in students who are learning their first programming language
and don't come with C baggage, the problem will not arise, in much the
same way that using * for multiplication does not cause a problem.

So far this has worked, by my experiment has only been performed with 6
students so far -- hardly a large enough experiemental set.  And the
experiment is flawed because it is still quite difficult for me to stop
saying 'equals', so I still use the forbidden words every so often.
Telling the sudents they can point and make faces at me every time I
slip up does wonders for improving me.

Laura