Jul-27-2020, 04:03 PM
I have now decided for Java.
The reason is that Java is closer to the machine. I want the students to think about the way an algorithm works and to get a picture of what is actually happening in the computer. Otherwise, they will come up with solutions that perform very badly. E.g., it is simply not okay to forget about the underline machine architecture and use infinite integers all the time. This sloppy style might avoid some thinking, but at a cost.
I also do not like students to not use loops. While all those list tricks in Python are short, they are cryptic, especially for a beginner. What is a slice object, a range in Python 3? I admit that it is more verbose to achieve the same in Java, but a lot easier to understand.
For a speed comparison: I just tried to fill create a list of 100000 integer elements in Python and fill it with 1 to 100000. That takes 5 msec. It does not matter if you do it with x.append(k) or a presized list and x[k]=k. Then I did the same in Java in 0.15 msec. That is 30 times faster! If you are using the list class in Java List<Integer> it takes 0.5 msec, which is still 10 times faster. Sorry, but I come from Numerical Analysis.
So let it be Java. I also have to consider that I have three other high class subjects (Complex Analysis, Calculus, Measure Theory) in the next semester, and I understand Java much better than Python.
Thanks for all your input!
The reason is that Java is closer to the machine. I want the students to think about the way an algorithm works and to get a picture of what is actually happening in the computer. Otherwise, they will come up with solutions that perform very badly. E.g., it is simply not okay to forget about the underline machine architecture and use infinite integers all the time. This sloppy style might avoid some thinking, but at a cost.
I also do not like students to not use loops. While all those list tricks in Python are short, they are cryptic, especially for a beginner. What is a slice object, a range in Python 3? I admit that it is more verbose to achieve the same in Java, but a lot easier to understand.
For a speed comparison: I just tried to fill create a list of 100000 integer elements in Python and fill it with 1 to 100000. That takes 5 msec. It does not matter if you do it with x.append(k) or a presized list and x[k]=k. Then I did the same in Java in 0.15 msec. That is 30 times faster! If you are using the list class in Java List<Integer> it takes 0.5 msec, which is still 10 times faster. Sorry, but I come from Numerical Analysis.
So let it be Java. I also have to consider that I have three other high class subjects (Complex Analysis, Calculus, Measure Theory) in the next semester, and I understand Java much better than Python.
Thanks for all your input!