Java vs. Scheme in Education

Re:Java vs. Scheme in Education by SkyMarshal on Thursday March 24, 2011 @04:48AM (#2363324)

Same point PG made in one of his essays about text editors vs IDE's. With the former you learn and master the language, with the latter you learn the editor and features like code completion substitute for mastering the language.

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Re:Java vs. Scheme in Education by lemming on Thursday March 24, 2011 @09:14AM (#2363907)

This is utter bull, even if PG said it. I've learned a huge amount about Java by using an editor (Intellij) that has real time static analysis of my code and points out when I'm making common mistakes with corners of the language (calling overrideable methods during object construction, for example). It's incredibly useful and informative.

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Re:Java vs. Scheme in Education by SkyMarshal on Thursday March 24, 2011 @04:04PM (#2365667)

Eh, was Oliver Steele, not PG. Old essay, somehow I started attributing it to PG instead:

http://osteele.com/archives/2004/11/ides

Perhaps out of date now, given what IDE's can do, though I personally still prefer to learn a language and toolchain with a text editor, then graduate to Eclipse for the benefits you mention.

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Re:Java vs. Scheme in Education by rbanffy on Thursday March 24, 2011 @04:05PM (#2365672)

> I've learned a huge amount about Java

But did you learn a huge amount about programming?

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