Popular conceit about learning programming languages

Arthur ajs at ix.netcom.com
Thu Nov 21 15:49:52 EST 2002


David writes -

> There's a strange phenomenon with programmers, especially (but not
> exclusively) ones who are attached to one or a couple favorite
> langauges.  They claim--rather persistently--that someone/anyone can
> learn their language in an absurdly short time period.

FWIW, I have been trying to draw some attention to a related point on the
edu-sig and tutor lists.

Emphasizing too strongly how "easy" Python is as a first programming
language is probably in many ways counter-productive. Many people who give
it even an honest attempt with that expectation will become quickly
discouraged, IMO.

>From a somewhat standing start (very little programming background, but a
"power user", as the term goes) took me a few years of pretty concerted
effort to become comfortable with a decently comprehensive subset of the
core language. But  I still know very little about most of the library
modules.  And I would say I haved a decent aptitude for the kind of
challenges presented by learning to program.

Just seems to me that realistic expectations are quite important in any
learning process.

Art






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