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The First Programming Language and Freshman Year in Computer Science: Characterization and Tips for Better Decision Making

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Trends and Innovations in Information Systems and Technologies (WorldCIST 2020)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1161))

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Abstract

The ability to program is the “visible” competency to acquire in an introductory unit in computer science. However, before a student is able to write a program, he needs to understand the problem: before formalizing, the student must have to (be able) to think, (be able) to solve and (be able) to define. At an early stage of learning there are no significant differences between programming languages.

The discussion of the early programming language continues: probably never will be a consensus among academics. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) computer science curriculum recommendations haven’t clearly defined which programming language to adopt: it is the course directors and teachers who must make this choice, consciously and not only following the trends.

This article presents a set of items that should be considered when you make a programming language choice for the first programming unit in higher education computer science courses.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information because it has collaborative features!

  2. 2.

    (2-2-3) two hours of lectures and two hours of laboratory per week for a total of three semester hours of credit.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. REMIT, Universidade Portucalense, Porto, Portugal

    Sónia Rolland Sobral

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  1. Sónia Rolland Sobral
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Correspondence to Sónia Rolland Sobral .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Engenharia Informática, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Álvaro Rocha

  2. College of Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Hojjat Adeli

  3. FEUP, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Luís Paulo Reis

  4. DIMES, Università della Calabria, Arcavacata, Italy

    Sandra Costanzo

  5. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro

    Irena Orovic

  6. Universidade Portucalense, Porto, Portugal

    Fernando Moreira

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Sobral, S.R. (2020). The First Programming Language and Freshman Year in Computer Science: Characterization and Tips for Better Decision Making. In: Rocha, Á., Adeli, H., Reis, L., Costanzo, S., Orovic, I., Moreira, F. (eds) Trends and Innovations in Information Systems and Technologies. WorldCIST 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1161. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45697-9_16

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