Comments on: Software’s Cambrian Explosion http://blog.slickedit.com/2008/10/softwares-cambrian-explosion/ "Hello World" - The SlickEdit Developer Blog Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:18:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Scott Westfall http://blog.slickedit.com/2008/10/softwares-cambrian-explosion/comment-page-1/#comment-539 Scott Westfall Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:54:11 +0000 http://blog.slickedit.com/?p=248#comment-539 That sounds like a good approach. There are way too many languages to cover them all, so cover the kinds of languages. Though my survey class didn't cover all languages, you still had a sense that you covered all the major ones you are likely see out there. Sometimes, it's nice to live in a small world. I have a similar feeling about music. I remember, in high school, going to the record store and looking through the bins of LPs. I new all of the groups and could readily tell when there was a new album or new group. Now, there are so many more artists that it seems nearly impossible to keep up. Don't get me wrong; I'm not wishing for a smaller world. I just wish it were possible to have the same kind of comprehensive knowledge I felt I had back then. That sounds like a good approach. There are way too many languages to cover them all, so cover the kinds of languages.

Though my survey class didn’t cover all languages, you still had a sense that you covered all the major ones you are likely see out there. Sometimes, it’s nice to live in a small world.

I have a similar feeling about music. I remember, in high school, going to the record store and looking through the bins of LPs. I new all of the groups and could readily tell when there was a new album or new group. Now, there are so many more artists that it seems nearly impossible to keep up.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not wishing for a smaller world. I just wish it were possible to have the same kind of comprehensive knowledge I felt I had back then.

]]> By: A.J. http://blog.slickedit.com/2008/10/softwares-cambrian-explosion/comment-page-1/#comment-538 A.J. Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:15:27 +0000 http://blog.slickedit.com/?p=248#comment-538 For reference, when I took Programming Languages about 5 years ago, we focused on four types of programming language: object oriented, imperative, logical, and functional. The languages we used as examples were Java/SmallTalk, C/Pascal, Prolog, and ML, respectively. The professor wanted to focus on the core differences between the different types of programming languages rather than getting caught up in all of the new frameworks and scripting languages. The course also covered the lexical structure of the different types of languages. I'm not sure whether those types of classes will ever use new languages as examples. Most of the Computer Science professors I know feel many of the new languages don't teach good programming practices because many (especially the scripting languages) tolerate errors. For reference, when I took Programming Languages about 5 years ago, we focused on four types of programming language: object oriented, imperative, logical, and functional. The languages we used as examples were Java/SmallTalk, C/Pascal, Prolog, and ML, respectively. The professor wanted to focus on the core differences between the different types of programming languages rather than getting caught up in all of the new frameworks and scripting languages. The course also covered the lexical structure of the different types of languages. I’m not sure whether those types of classes will ever use new languages as examples. Most of the Computer Science professors I know feel many of the new languages don’t teach good programming practices because many (especially the scripting languages) tolerate errors.

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