Scheme is one of the languages used in Stuy's intro CS course. Like any other language, there are pros and cons of using it to introduce students to CS. Here are some of the reasons why I like Scheme as a first language and why despite that, I don't recommend it in many cases. Scheme certainly isn't mainstream. That's not the main reason why I like it but it is a side benefit.

I was catching up with the team at Stuy the other day and they mentioned that they were periodically getting pushback on their choice of languages, particularly in the intro class. The pushback was mostly in the form of "why don't you start them with Javascript?" Back in the day, when I created our intro class where we use Scheme, NetLogo and then later Python, I'd get similar pushback but then it was "why not Java?

I'm guessing my views on this aren't very popular -that's OK, every community needs a curmudgeon. A few years ago, I cautioned if we weren't careful, once the big players got involved, CS Ed would go the way of other disciplines, and not in a good way. It looks like indeed we're well on our way down that road. I've ranted before about things like non-profits, drop in and summer programs.

I didn't know Hunter College had computer science. I heard that refrain more than once during my fall visits to high schools. Part of the reason for this is due to Hunter CS's low profile and small size in spite of its high quality. Part, though, was also because of some misconceptions about Computer Science programs. I'd hear things like "but they only offer a BA not a BS," or "but Hunter isn't an engineering school.

Today's Advent of Code problem was a variant on the Josephus problem. I recalled that there was a formula to figure out the sole survivor but I decide to run a simulation rather than looking it up. I also decided to write it up in C++, well, really C with cout instead of printf. Part 1 was the traditional problem. Part 2 was a variant where at each iteration, you remove the elf opposite the elf being processed (see the problem description for details).

I'm spending the weekend up in Michigan. Visiting my brother and is family. We're here to see the UMGASS production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer. Batya also came up from Cornell to join us so the two families are all togehter for the first time in about 10 years. This hasn't left much time for Advent of Code but I did manage to finish yesterday's challenge this morning.

Today we're looking at Advent of Code 2016 number 2. To change things up, I thought I'd do a video where I live code a solution. The solution I present is pretty straightforward - use a 2D array (or technically, an array of strings) to represent the keypad, parse the input, and follow the input instructions to build the code. One of the things I really like about Advent of Code is that every problem has two parts and depending on how you solved part 1, you may or may not have extra work to do for part 2.

I recently posted about Advent of Code - a series of programming problems relseased one a day. While they vary in terms of level of difficulty, a number of them make nice problems for introductory to mid level programming classes. I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on a few of them starting with the first problem from this years competition. Take a minute to read it over.

Once again, it's time for Advent of Code - a series of small programming problems released once a day. I wrote a bit about it last year and you can still find last years problems here. It's only day three but so far, all of the problems look really nice for students in APCS-A or any similar intro course. I'm thinking of looking at a couple of the problems this week with my class at Hunter.

I haven't spoken much about the class I've been teaching this semester. It's an intro CS course - a programming heavy intro. I decided to use Python with a transition at the end to C++. The transition is to mirror Hunter's normal first CS course that ends with a C++ intro to prepare the students for next semester's CS course which is a more intense OOP class using C++ - the language we use in our core courses.