[python-nl] Python at Schools

[Roger Erens]

Hi Floris,

On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 23:33, Floris van Manen <vm op klankschap.nl> wrote:
> Localization of programming languages is a bad idea.

Do you have some more convincing evidence?

> If you have to learn a new language, switch context, never start
> translating.

Is switching context how you started learning English at school, for
example? I think not. In the end, switching context is probably needed
to become fluent.
Anyway, my aim was to teach kids programming, not a programming
language. So even pseudo-code would do, right? Python is appraised for
looking very much like pseudo-code (I don't have references at hand),
meaning there's almost no context switching needed, merely
translating. But programming in pseudo-code only isn't much fun. The
proof of the pudding is in the eating: you want to see a computer
perform the algorithm you feed it. It's only in that step where you
need a programming language.

> You don't want to write in fortran-python either.

I agree. But it's besides the point: you're assuming a context-switch
indeed. I was hoping to preserve the semantics and therefore was
proposing something like translating:

for item in my_list:
    print my_item

into:

voor_elk ding in mijn_lijst:
    toon ding

and not into:

doe_zolang_elk ding in mijn_lijst
    toon ding
doe-einde

or whatever you implied...

Best regards,

Roger