Re:Why SICP Matters
by No1 on Tuesday April 30, 2013 @12:49PM
(#5633312)
Does MIT even use Scheme for their intro CS courses anymore? Harvey's article makes it sound like they switched to Python when they went from a "curriculum organized around topics" to a "curriculum organized around applications" - it seems to be the trend everywhere.
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MIT did indeed switch from Scheme to Python for their introductory courses (though I've heard they still use Scheme in some more advanced courses).[1][2]
However, I recall that a little later some MIT graduate students started teaching their own version of the classic SICP-based course. I can't seem to find a link to it now, unfortunately. I wonder how that turned out, and if they're still teaching it now.
Brian Harvey was also teaching his own version of the old CS61A last I heard, but he may be retiring after this year. (I've been hearing about him retiring pretty much since I started at Berkeley 5 years ago, for what it's worth).
There's a variant of 6.001 that's taught in January IAP sessions:
Actually switched entirely to Python and Java. In theory a lot of SICP is taught in the 6.005 Elements of Software Construction course, but since it uses Java, to use Pauli's phrase, for that purpose it's not even wrong.