[OT] An interchange with a student

[OT] An interchange with a student

[Marcin Borkowski]

Hi all,

this is rather off-topic, but...

I teach an introductory course in mathematics for first year (= right
after the high school, usually) students of computer science (something
like a "precalculus" with elements of logic, set theory, probability
etc.).  I was talking with the students about programming languages, and
(after I expressed my opinion about Java;-)) I was asked what language
is better.  When I answered "Lisp", I had a (more or less) following
interchange with one of the students:

S: You mean Scheme or some other Lisp?
Me: It doesn't matter that much, though Scheme is not the best one.
What Lisp do you know?
S: A bit of Common Lisp.
Me: Wow.  And do you know about macros?
S: Yes, of course.
Me: Wow!  Who taught you Lisp?!
S: The internet.
Me: And what have you read?
S: "Practical Common Lisp".

After some time, when I expressed my opinion about the abomination which
is a computer mouse (as opposed to good ol' keyboard interfaces), the
very same student asked me whether I use Emacs.

How cool is that?

(I know this is only tangentially on-topic, but I just had to share this
with someone;-).  And the sad part of the story is that I know /nobody/
in RL who would appreciate it...)

Best,

-- 
Marcin Borkowski
http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski
Adam Mickiewicz University

Re: [OT] An interchange with a student

[Rainer M Krug]

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Marcin Borkowski <mbork@wmi.amu.edu.pl> writes:

> Hi all,
>
> this is rather off-topic, but...
>
> I teach an introductory course in mathematics for first year (= right
> after the high school, usually) students of computer science (something
> like a "precalculus" with elements of logic, set theory, probability
> etc.).  I was talking with the students about programming languages, and
> (after I expressed my opinion about Java;-)) I was asked what language
> is better.  When I answered "Lisp", I had a (more or less) following
> interchange with one of the students:
>
> S: You mean Scheme or some other Lisp?
> Me: It doesn't matter that much, though Scheme is not the best one.
> What Lisp do you know?
> S: A bit of Common Lisp.
> Me: Wow.  And do you know about macros?
> S: Yes, of course.
> Me: Wow!  Who taught you Lisp?!
> S: The internet.
> Me: And what have you read?
> S: "Practical Common Lisp".
>
> After some time, when I expressed my opinion about the abomination which
> is a computer mouse (as opposed to good ol' keyboard interfaces), the
> very same student asked me whether I use Emacs.
>
> How cool is that?
>
> (I know this is only tangentially on-topic, but I just had to share this
> with someone;-).  And the sad part of the story is that I know /nobody/
> in RL who would appreciate it...)

Thanks for sharing this - I like these "Because it's Friday" topics...

Cheers,

Rainer

>
> Best,

-- 
Rainer M. Krug
email: Rainer<at>krugs<dot>de
PGP: 0x0F52F982

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Re: [OT] An interchange with a student

[Pascal J. Bourguignon]

Marcin Borkowski <mbork@wmi.amu.edu.pl> writes:

> Hi all,
>
> this is rather off-topic, but...
>
> I teach an introductory course in mathematics for first year (= right
> after the high school, usually) students of computer science (something
> like a "precalculus" with elements of logic, set theory, probability
> etc.).  I was talking with the students about programming languages, and
> (after I expressed my opinion about Java;-)) I was asked what language
> is better.  When I answered "Lisp", I had a (more or less) following
> interchange with one of the students:
>
> S: You mean Scheme or some other Lisp?
> Me: It doesn't matter that much, though Scheme is not the best one.
> What Lisp do you know?
> S: A bit of Common Lisp.
> Me: Wow.  And do you know about macros?
> S: Yes, of course.
> Me: Wow!  Who taught you Lisp?!
> S: The internet.
> Me: And what have you read?
> S: "Practical Common Lisp".
>
> After some time, when I expressed my opinion about the abomination which
> is a computer mouse (as opposed to good ol' keyboard interfaces), the
> very same student asked me whether I use Emacs.
>
> How cool is that?

There's some hope! :-)



> (I know this is only tangentially on-topic, but I just had to share this
> with someone;-).  And the sad part of the story is that I know /nobody/
> in RL who would appreciate it...)


-- 
__Pascal Bourguignon__                 http://www.informatimago.com/
“The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a
dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to
keep the man from touching the equipment.” -- Carl Bass CEO Autodesk