ActionScript as a teaching language

[Stewart C. Russell]

Paul King wrote:
> 
>>>* painless associative arrays/hashes (computers aren't just about
>>>  numbers)
> 
> OK, but you still need an numerically-indexed array to show them first, so that 
> they can see why this is a good idea (and why sometimes it is not).

I'm not so sure. There's no useful real-world analogue to an array 
('storing things in numbered boxes' was what I was taught at school, on 
BBC Basic).

The hash is more of a mnemonic, and is more easily grasped, I think. It 
depends if you need to teach "How to do X" against "How the computer 
does X".

> No dice. You need to teach data types as part of the Ontario curriculum (the fact 
> that some teachers are probably still teaching QBasic notwithstanding).

Well, integer% is still a data type ;-)

I do wish that MS had reimplemented the bits of BASIC they knocked out 
in the micro days, when they had the chance. The matrix functions were 
sorely missed.

> The more room for "flexibility", the less room for "obviousness".

Maybe so. Maybe that's why I haven't found that language.


Yanni Chiu wrote:
 >
 > Have you ever looked at Smalltalk? It satisfies every single
 > one of the requirements you listed.

It does look reasonable. Its syntax could use work, though. And as 
everyone notes, its name could be better.


Zoltan wrote:
 >
 > What about Javascript running on FireFox 1.5 (this gives you a
 > de-bugger and graphics via <canvas> and SVG)?

This does look very neat, but I'd rather have commands like 'draw', than 
have to set up canvas properties first. PostScript spoiled me on this 
one. And stack-based RPN languages rock, if only for pure satisfaction.

cheers,
  Stewart

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