Personally, I guess perl is not a language for the begginners. Perl shouldn't be the first language, because there is little restrictions on datatypes and syntax constructions. This generally speaking leads the newcomers to become less disciplined and write bad code. This is a bad thing. On the other hand, perl is fast to learn and powerful. Much more powerful than the needs you have at academia. This is both an advantage and a disvantage, for the same reason you don't teach basic math operations to children using a scientific calculator - they will not learn how to think, just how to press buttons and read the answers.

"In few words, translating PerlMonks documentation and best articles to other languages is like building a bridge to join other Perl communities into PerlMonks family. This makes the family bigger, the knowledge greater, the parties better and the life easier." -- monsieur_champs

In reply to Re: Teaching Perl as the First Language in an Academic Course - Good or Bad Thing? by monsieur_champs
in thread Teaching Perl inside an Academic Course by Mago

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