I recently tried Pyret, and fondly remembered days of learning and also teaching data structures through Pascal to my undergraduate students. For those starting to learn programming now, I recommend you explore Pyret first (https://lnkd.in/fmkR2Ja).
I hope teaching programming will allow learners to journey through procedural, declarative, imperative, and functional styles. I find C, Lisp, Java, Go, and Haskell to be wonderful and useful manifestations of these programming styles.
While challenged, I completely loved the mind shift needed as I transitioned from C++ to Python, and now to Haskell (https://lnkd.in/fXiR4Rk). While the abstractions of functional programming style could feel daunting to start with; Sigma (https://lnkd.in/fywBhhq) is a great example of the prowess of Haskell.
And this post will be incomplete without mentioning Lego Mindstorms NXT-G which kept my 7th graders focused on building logic for their Robots as they learned new concepts of Maths and Science. Still a strong contender for a serious fun-filled weekend.
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