Stanford have published their lecture series on youtube for every one to see.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=84A56BC7F4A1F852
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=84A56BC7F4A1F852
Enjoy!
Stanford Programming Lecture Series
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Stanford Programming Lecture Series Thanks
May watch this later. Why do all programming courses seem to use Java these days, though? Also, they spelt 'programming' incorrectly in the description. :P
Really how would you spell it...
The spelt it with one M in the lecture description.
Why do all programming courses seem to use Java these days, though?
Why not use Java? Why not use Java?
Answer my question first. Why use Java? :) You are the one with the problem with it (I have no problem with it), can't you defend your stance?
o_O
Who said I had a problem with Java? I didn't. I posed a simple question.
Who said I had a problem with Java? I didn't. I posed a simple question.
I don't know about America but in the UK most universities do not solely teach Java.
They try and teach a range of languages normally one from each paradigm.
However Java seems to get taught first as it allows teaching the concepts of programming without getting into the nitty gritty of managing memory and various things like that. Coupled with the fact it seems to be the most used language in industry (Although maybe it's a bit of a circular relationship).
They try and teach a range of languages normally one from each paradigm.
However Java seems to get taught first as it allows teaching the concepts of programming without getting into the nitty gritty of managing memory and various things like that. Coupled with the fact it seems to be the most used language in industry (Although maybe it's a bit of a circular relationship).
Your Pro-Java arguments are equivalent to Pro-Windows arguments: Everybody uses it, so it has to be good. Strangely enough, millions of people chose alternatives. Now why and how could this happen?
Python, for example, is a superior programming language especially for learning purposes, the main reasons being its dynamic nature and the fact that it has an interpreter, which is an invaluable tool for learners. You learn in a dialogue mode. (Yes, I know that they have written something like this for Java, but it's not the nature of the language.) But Python -also- has a VM and just in time compilation, just like Java.
Besides that, there's a magnitude of languages that allow you to learn "the concepts of programming without getting into the nitty gritty of managing memory and various things like that".
Java is also object-oriented ONLY, which already limits its programming concepts to exactly ONE approach, whereas other languages are hybrid by nature and allow for different approaches (Python again). Object-orientation is not the holy cow of software engineering, although the Java front seems to believe that. The Java front also believes that multi-threading is another Holy Grail of software engineering, where in most cases it only adds unpredictable complexity and solves nothing.
A couple of years ago, C++ was the most used language in the industry, before that it was C and before that universities used Pascal to teach programming. And before that, most enterprise-level software had been written in COBOL. Java is on its way to the COBOL phase and losing ground to dynamic languages.
Java has a lot of SUN marketing behind it and Dilbert's pointy-haired boss loves it, but that doesn't make it the best thing since sliced bread.
Python, for example, is a superior programming language especially for learning purposes, the main reasons being its dynamic nature and the fact that it has an interpreter, which is an invaluable tool for learners. You learn in a dialogue mode. (Yes, I know that they have written something like this for Java, but it's not the nature of the language.) But Python -also- has a VM and just in time compilation, just like Java.
Besides that, there's a magnitude of languages that allow you to learn "the concepts of programming without getting into the nitty gritty of managing memory and various things like that".
Java is also object-oriented ONLY, which already limits its programming concepts to exactly ONE approach, whereas other languages are hybrid by nature and allow for different approaches (Python again). Object-orientation is not the holy cow of software engineering, although the Java front seems to believe that. The Java front also believes that multi-threading is another Holy Grail of software engineering, where in most cases it only adds unpredictable complexity and solves nothing.
A couple of years ago, C++ was the most used language in the industry, before that it was C and before that universities used Pascal to teach programming. And before that, most enterprise-level software had been written in COBOL. Java is on its way to the COBOL phase and losing ground to dynamic languages.
Java has a lot of SUN marketing behind it and Dilbert's pointy-haired boss loves it, but that doesn't make it the best thing since sliced bread.
Your Pro-Java arguments are equivalent to Pro-Windows arguments: Everybody uses it, so it has to be good. Strangely enough, millions of people chose alternatives. Now why and how could this happen?
I didn't really see it as a 'pro java' argument, I was simply trying to give my opinion on why they use. Be it wrong or right there was no 'pro java'.
In fact I even said it's a bit of a circular relationship.
Oooh, programming lectures from Stanford.. The language isn't really the issue (although it seems to be the standard for beginners nowadays).
If you understand programming in general, you should be able to apply pretty much any lesson in any language to any other language.
If you understand programming in general, you should be able to apply pretty much any lesson in any language to any other language.
> Your Pro-Java arguments are equivalent to Pro-Windows arguments: Everybody uses it, so it has to be good.
The argument is more like, if everyone uses it then teaching it make the most sense, unless it makes more sense to teach something everyone does not use.
The argument is more like, if everyone uses it then teaching it make the most sense, unless it makes more sense to teach something everyone does not use.
Actually, for teaching i would have thought java would be perfect.
Isnt it supposed to be somewhat C++-ish and also very similar in some ways to its own bastardized brother C#, and runs on everything.
Personally ive never bothered with it, but i do use C++/C# and my collegue who loves java (and hates both c++ and C#) says its a nice halfway point.
Isnt it supposed to be somewhat C++-ish and also very similar in some ways to its own bastardized brother C#, and runs on everything.
Personally ive never bothered with it, but i do use C++/C# and my collegue who loves java (and hates both c++ and C#) says its a nice halfway point.