Computer language usage in CS1

Abstract

The Reid Report [Reid 94] is a list of more than 400 schools throughout the world and the language they are using in their first computer science course (commonly referred to as ACM's CS1). It is a voluntary report updated regularly. Its list of schools is not exhaustive or complete. Based on this report, 139 colleges and universities within the United States who are not using Pascal were surveyed. The intent of the survey was threefold:• to find out why these schools are using their choice of language in their CS1 course,• how the instructors at these schools feel about their current language as it compares to Pascal in the way it aids in the teaching of introductory programming skills, and• which language these instructors feel is the best one to use in a CS1 course.The results of this survey, conducted in February 1995, are summarized below.

The History of Computer Language Selection

“…Some authors attribute this to two pragmatic factors: the invention of the personal computer, and the availability of Pascal compilers (Levy, 1995). Pascal compilers were always far slower than the languages used in industry, but the speed was well within the limits needed in a teaching environment.…”

Language History — A Tale of Two Countries

“…With the introduction of Pascal in the 1970s, most universities adopted Pascal for their introductory programming course. Some authors attribute this to two pragmatic factors: the invention of the personal computer, and the availability of Pascal compilers (Levy, 1995).…”

Using Ada-based robotics to teach computer science

“…We chose Ada for several reasons. Ada has a long track record of use in introductory computer science courses [Fe99] [Le95]. Ada also embodies software engineering principles in a much more rigorous way than C or C++.…”