A good grounding in C is possibly the best introduction to Perl I can think of, especially pointer concepts as Perl data structures are largely pointers to pointers to pointers to things..

One doesn't really go to college/university to become practical.. indeed if someone enters the workforce after university with any useful skills you'd have to ask yourself "what did they study??".

Perl is a pragmatic language, a bit like a hammer drill is very useful during construction. But the point of college (e.g. a civil engineering degree) is to learn how buildings stay up, not how to use a hammer drill..

So it is with software, if your boys can learn the concepts of programming and the science behind it (and various arts) then they will be much better grounded for adapting to Perl and other languages as need be.

I've got no problem with a required C class as a requirement. 2 years of Latin highschool did me good even though I don't directly write or speak Latin in my everyday life. So maybe C is the Latin of computer languages. A required course in assembly language would be great too. Is assembly the ABCs of computer languages? I doubt a course in microcode writing is absolutely necessary. Maybe for computer engineering student but not for computer science. Speaking of science: I think that is why most institutions do not formally embrace PERL. PERL is the bastard child prodigy. PERL was not created from an instution ergo it must not be acceptable. In reviewing my coworker's class notes (from his graduate CS studies at Stanford) it is readily apparent that programming is an art with lots of techniques. It reminds me a little of solving differential equations which is a trial and error of applying different solving techniques to an equation. Anyway my point is why don't higher education institutions stop behaving like old Catholic priests who conduct their masses in Latin with their backs turned to the congregation. Let's speak English! English is a horrible mish mash language that is hybrid mutant with DNA from many other languages. PERL is the English of the computer languages. Lets embrace it. Start teaching PERL as a requirement in colleges.

I'd agree that C is a solid foundation to learn on, and also that assembly can really add a few ripples to the old grey wad. Scheme and Lisp dialects are good because they make you realize that TI(truly)MTOWTDE(verything)

I found though that the course in college that really, profoundly, changed my programming approach was a course in state machines and finite automata (with a nice segueway into regular expressions, of course) - these being the absolute foundations and primordial soup of computer science, I suppose this is natural, don't overlook this significance. Ensure that they recieve these lessons.


It's not what you look like, when you're doin' what you’re doin'.
It's what you’re doin' when you’re doin' what you look like you’re doin'!
     - Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band

WPI was mainly C, but there was a required assembly class and one or two C++, you also had a class that went into Scheme and Prolog, ick. A good rounding with a firm practical foundation.

                - Ant
                - Some of my best work - (1 2 3)