So far, the answers presented mostly touched on teaching a COBOL programmer to write in Perl.

This persons problem seems to run a bit deeper, in that they don't understand the factoring process. It's been my experience that some people are just not cut out for programming. They may like computers, they may be able to use computers, and they may want to program, but unless you can factor a problem down to the level where it can be implemented, I don't think it really matters what programming language you inflict on them. Until we have languages that have a DWIMNWIS (Do What I Mean, Not What I Say) statement, they just won't "get it".

I would suggest that you get a feel for this person's current ability to factor problems, create a couple of scenarios, and see if they can solve them. You may have to break the news to them that they should stay an operator, or become a plumber. It's unfortunate, but the reality is that some people will never reach the level required.

This is also what differentiates people who are comfortable writing in assembly, and those that can only cope with high level languages. These people can conceptualize a "if ($a == $b)" in Perl, but not grasp the "get the address of $a, load the contents, get the address of $b, load the contents, compare, and branch if not equal" implementation in assembly.

--Chris

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