ActionScript as a teaching language

[phiscock-g851W1bGYuGnS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org]

Hugh Redelmeier wrote:

> Most scripting languages are a bit sloppy for my tastes.  There seems
> to be a life cycle in most successful scripting languages:
>
> - start as quick and dirty [enable amazing small programs]
>
> - slowly repent and correct sloppy design [large programs were a
>   painful to build, to get right, and to be sure they were right]
>
> The problem is that it is very hard to make a language more strict
> without hurting your customers -- all their old programs break.

As you know, I'm a great fan of the Tcl/Tk scripting language for
controlling electronic equipment. But I think Hugh's observation is
correct - we usually deal with relatively modest programs and, for
example, the issue of controlling the scope of variables was included in
Tcl/Tk as an add-on fix.

In my view, there is no ideal computer language for every application -
competent practitioners use different languages for different purposes.

With regard to teaching a computer language at the university, students
should be able to learn the syntax on their own, so that the focus is on
different language concepts.

Peter
-- 
Peter Hiscocks
Professor Emeritus,
Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Ryerson University
416-465-3007
www.ee.ryerson.ca/~phiscock

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