[nmglug] Beginning C Programming

[John Osmon]

Yeah.  I get his point too.

But how else do we liven up this list?  



On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 04:40:58PM -0600, dave borton wrote:
> I understand Mars's point.  It's good to have an appreciation for what goes
> on under the covers.   But the risk is that since C (pointers, malloc(),
> etc.) is such a pain in the arse that it can discourage novice programmers.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nmglug [mailto:nmglug-bounces at lists.nmglug.org] On Behalf Of John
> Osmon
> Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2014 4:04 PM
> To: NMGLUG.org mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nmglug] Beginning C Programming
> 
> On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 03:18:32PM -0500, Mark Janssen wrote:
> > On 6/10/14, J. Marsden DeLapp <jmdelapp at delapp.com> wrote:
> > > Can anyone recommend a good book for high school students wishing to 
> > > learn C Programming?
> > 
> > There really isn't any reason for high school students to learn C
> > programming or any language hat uses pointers.   The evolution of
> > programming has advanced so far that it's really a poor direction 
> > unless they are doing hardware work.  Otherwise, the need to worry 
> > about the hardware details interferes with the art of programming.
>  
> Wow.  I couldn't disagree more.  I think having some time where you have to
> sling memory on your own gives you a good grounding of fundamentals and an
> appreciation for the things that are done for you automatically with newer
> languages.
> 
> Moore's law has given us a great bounty.  Faster CPUs and an abundance of
> memory allow us to us highly leveraged (read:  object oriented) languages
> where lots of stuff gets done "behind the scenes."
> 
> Programmers that learn via Java and Python have the same potential as those
> from earlier times, but how many of them would be able to help in the
> efforts to recapture the ISEE-3 probe?
> 
> Now get off my lawn while I get off my soapbox.  :-)
> 
> 
> > Was there something specifically the students were looking to do?
> 
> I agree 100% with *this* question.  Knowledge of where you're going can have
> huge impacts on whether or not your are successful!
> 
> 
> > Mark Janssen, Ph. D. Computer Science
> > Gothenburg, Nebraska.
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