[Coco] OO programming - [Was]:Emulator

Aaron Wolfe aawolfe at gmail.com
Fri Nov 6 13:38:51 EST 2009


On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 8:45 AM, Gene Heskett <gene.heskett at verizon.net> wrote:
> On Friday 06 November 2009, Steven Hirsch wrote:
>>On Fri, 6 Nov 2009, Fedor Steeman wrote:
>>> And that is another bone I still have to pick with you: The "C"
>>> programming language has not been a part of my CS education nor of any of
>>> my buddies that I asked. Instead, we had Java or some other OO language.
>>> One buddy, an engineer, even thought the notion that it was required for
>>> any IT professional to have had "absurd".
>


I had promised myself I would not comment any more on this, but that
was in part because I thought no one else was interested.  Seeing
discussion, on this one point I will make an exception.  (I never have
learned to hold my tongue very well :)

Here is what I actually said:

> C is taught in every CS program I've heard of at least.  Some C
> experience is generally considered a prerequisite for any serious
> programmer, professional or hobbyist.

Although I fully stand behind the words that I said, I don't like the
straw man created by Mr. Steeman.

I never suggested that a particular language was a requirement to
receive a degree in CS, I said it was taught in every CS program I
knew of.  I believe most CS programs allow one to chose the languages
they study, mines certainly did.  C *is* taught at MIT, Standford, and
Berkeley this year, according to their web sites.

I also fully believe that "Some C experience is generally considered a
prerequisite for any serious programmer, professional or hobbyist."
Notice I did not say "IT Professional" or "Engineer".  I said
*programmer*.  Notice also I said "some C experience", not mastery,
specialization in, exclusive use of, etc.

"C" is indeed very popular today, in fact its arguably the most
popular programming language on the planet.  Java may be (probably is)
slightly more popular depending on the metric you choose:
http://www.langpop.com/

The goal of my original statement was to assert that C is more
"accessible" to the average programmer than the proprietary, closed
language that Mr Steeman was championing.  To that end, I believe I
have made my point very well.

-Aaron



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