[Edu-sig] Research on best language to use for teaching beginners

[kirby urner]

I'd say it's not just a matter of which keywords one chooses but how many.
It'd be easy enough for Python to bloat with additional control structures
the "fit the brain" of those used to thinking a particular way.

I favor teaching any language with an assumption the student will always be
learning others, so it helps to make bridges and analogies.  When it comes
to keywords, the discussion could go in the direction of "expression versus
statement" e.g. in Python we have that distinction (an if statement is not
an expression, defining expressions as "namables" e.g. name = "rock" in
pile) whereas in Clojure (LISP family) we don't.

Python's list comprehension syntax is a good example of how the keywords
for controlling logic also enter into creating expressions i.e. for loop
and if condition syntax as a part of an expression.

That brings up another point:  once you've mastered Python's for, you also
have easy access to list, set and dict comprehension syntax.  So the
question is not just:  which keywords are best but *how few* might one get
away with (if *any*) and what's the payback for learning them i.e. how
powerful are they, used in conjunction?

Kirby
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