MIT replacing Scheme with Python for Intro CS class | Hacker News Reader

MIT replacing Scheme with Python for Intro CS class

catherinedevlin.blogspot.com

25 pointsdamien16 comments

What was wrong with sicp?

Agreed. The issue isn't so much the language, it's what they plan to use to replace SICP. I can't see ditching the purple book as an improvement.

MIT is unusual in that it combines EE and CS into one department. While SICP may be the best intro to CS ever written, that does not mean it is the best possible choice for a combined CS/EE program.

If anyone has more substantial information or discussions about this, feel free to link it. 5 minutes on Google turned up very little.

http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2006/11/scheme_out_python...

From what I recall, most of the examples from the first few lessons can be trivially rewritten in Python.

Interesting. All my friends at MIT absolutely hated Scheme after taking that class; I don't know what the general sentiment there is.

Did your friends say what it was they hated about Scheme after taking that class? I can see where people might make an association between the language and the difficult tasks they were being asked to perform with it.

This is probably a personality thing. Many of my friends at MIT loved 6.001/SICP/Scheme and most of them at least respected it. Personally the class rewired my mind in fundamental ways and I appreciate that.

That said I trust the folks running the Course VI department. I have not looked into the specifics of the new program but I suspect it is a fine program.

Who else is using Scheme for the intro course? Is it just Berkeley now? BTW, anyone know what Stanford uses for the intro sequence? Just kinda curious.

The following Google search returns 320 results:

site:*.edu "How to design programs" OR "structure and interpretation of computer programs" syllabus

Stanford uses Java for their CS1 class, C++ for their CS2 class, and a combination of C/C++/Scheme/Python (or Java) for their CS3 class.

Berkeley, Northeastern, Indiana, Caltech, Brown, Yale (kinda)

Brown uses Scheme for one of the intro tracks - it has two, the other is taught in Java.

Indiana Univ Bloomington still appears to (C211).

Yeah. That's what happens when you have Dan Friedman and Kent Dybvig on staff.

georgia tech switched from scheme to python too since I was there in the past 2-3 yrs

CollegeBoard could make use of a python switch...

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