SemiOT: Mourning for Classic Computing

From: Eric Chomko <chomko_at_greenbelt.com>
Date: Wed Aug 15 09:41:15 2001

"Jeffrey S. Sharp" wrote:

> On Tue, 14 Aug 2001, Douglas Quebbeman wrote:
> >
> > And I would not consider people writing in assembly language to be at
> > the bottom rungs
>
> Right! I've always wondered why so many of the other programmers I have
> met have held assembly language in such low esteem. Depending on the
> particular make/model of processor you're dealing with, it can be
> downright elegant.
>
> I've always thought that one of the more simple assembly languages would
> be a great 'first language' for someone wanting to learn how to program.
> Who's with me?
>

First language? No, I still think BASIC is best as a first language. And
before
I get yelled off the board, let me explain. Not all people are meant to
program.
BASIC is a perfect way to separate those that can program from those that
cannot. I can't imagine someone not "getting" BASIC , yet being a natural
born assmebly language or other language programmer.

Now, for those that get BASIC and find it limited or boring, fine, move on
to
C, Java, assembly or whatever.

Also, assembly language implies that you must first learn the computer
architecture to some degree. High-lievel languages have no such
prerequisite.

Eric

P.S. The bottom rung programmers develop in a pure Microsoft environment
and usually write 4GL scripts. And they hate Unix.

>
> --
> Jeffrey S. Sharp
> jss_at_subatomix.com
Received on Wed Aug 15 2001 - 09:41:15 BST