[plug] [OT] murdoch IT dept

[Ben New]

><aside>
>Murdoch may start with Java now, but I don't think they should (I
>started with Pascal there)... I've seen way too many confused CS
>students trying to understand procedural programming stuck into an OO
>language. I would suggest teaching C for the basics and technical
>concepts (a stack to a java programmer is just a package you import)
>then switching to Java later.
></aside>
>  
>
Ohhhhh.... don't get me started!!!

I've been helping some CS students, first years, and they are doing C 
and Java in the same semester...  Not only that but the C course has 
actually started doing assembly now as well, I think they are doing that 
from now (week 8) until the end.  They have no idea wtf is going on!

<...paragraphs deleted as may result in legal action from Murdoch 
administration and/or several current academics...>

Grrrrr!

When I went there it was C++, which isn't brilliant, but at least they 
stuck to the one language for all of 1st year :-)  (Apart from Prolog, 
but you could hardly confuse those two!)  Assembly was taught in 
Computer Systems or something like that, a whole unit devoted to 
assembly and processor architecture (imagine!)

I already knew programming from my days as a total nerd in primary and 
high schools, but for those that didn't I reckon they found it a lot 
easier then, than the students now are finding it. 

That's what you get when you put IT in between Business and Law instead 
of between Maths and Science!

Ben


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