Tom Morgan writes:
Here is my try for motivating why assignment is a Big Deal, and a metaoperation.
[snipsnipsnip]
I always knew there was something funny about assignment, but I think as I programmed more that bit of me that was uncomfortable became numbed. Now I think I see the problem.
In this context, I kind of like the LOGO way of doing assignment:
MAKE "A :A+1
which makes it clear that "A isn't the same as :A. Unfortunately, this construct doesn't seem to make any sense to kids, because you always put the ":" in front of a variable everywhere except for this one time. Then again, MAKE "A :A+1 doesn't make much sense to them in general, it seems, and it's just an idiom they learn to use. Maybe there's a good way of explaining these two oddities at once so it makes more sense.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- || Ian Bicking | bickiia@earlham.edu || || drawer #419 Earlham College | (765) 973-2537 || || Richmond, IN 47374 | || -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --