Author: Russell Reagan
Date: 16:46:29 07/31/03
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On July 31, 2003 at 18:20:47, Matthew White wrote: >I realize that they are essentially the same. The reason why I lean towards Java >is the fact that if you read past the end of an array in Java, you get an >ArrayOutOfBounds exception with the line number where the exception occurred. In >C/C++ you get the obscure "Segmentation Fault (core dumped)." That scared the >hell out of me as a student, having no clue what a core was... I just think that >Java is a friendlier intro... > >Matt Surely fellow students, TAs, or the professor could have explained what a segmentation fault was and why it happened in your program. So I don't think that's a valid reason to prefer java. Besides, I think there are languages that have better error descriptions than java if that's your aim. I also wonder which is better in the long run. Wouldn't it be better for you to have the initial "shock" of seeing a segmentation fault, then learn what it is and why it happens? I think that thinking java is better because you don't have to deal with real world issues does more to hinder than help. If you and the professors followed that same line of thinking throughout your schooling, you'd go to work fresh out of school and *then* you'd see a segmentation fault and now instead of getting a bad grade on one homework, you lose your job. Maybe java is better than C as a very first language, but that isn't a very good reason to use it as a first language IMO, because there are plenty of languages that are more beginner friendly than java, and I don't think finding a perfect beginners language is necessarily a great advantage anyway. BASIC would probably be significantly easier to learn than java, just like java might be easier to learn than C because you don't have to worry about segmentation faults, but in the long run I don't think it's a good idea for everyone to take their first programming steps in BASIC, because you can develop some bad habits. I agree with Bob. It's best to learn what you're going to use first, regardless of what that is. For most people it will probably be C/C++. If you don't learn it well, that is either your fault for not being a good student, or the professor's fault for not teaching it well. IMO, that's kind of like saying "C++ is a bad language because I don't know how to use it."
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