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From: fjh@munta.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Fergus Henderson)
Subject: Re: Wanted: programming language for 9 yr old
Message-ID: <9528313.6839@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU>
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Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
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Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 03:38:49 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.lang.misc:23408 comp.lang.prolog:14022

mtcrya01@scilab.uct.ac.za writes:

>>rgb@banjo.dsi.com (Randy Brown) writes:
>
>>[stuff about predicate logic being hard deleted]
>
>>>Right.  That's why it's hard.  The child whould have to know formal
>>>logic for Prolog to make any sense at all.  Now perhaps kids should
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>>>such a creature definitely exists.  But teaching Prolog means teaching
>>>predicate logic, and then Prolog, and then you have to go back and
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>explain the operational behaviour of Prolog to explain the pretty
>>>pictures that any but the most motivated 9 year old will want to see
>>>drawn by their program.
>
>I first encountered Prolog when I was about 11. At the time I had only 
>programmed in BASIC, and the Prolog-style was a revelation. I loved it. I 
>didn't have a clue about the logical background of Prolog, but the 
>declarative syntax of simple programs was a cinch (you know the good old 
>family tree type program, etc.). I do admit, however, that as you start 
>writing more complex programs (recursion, parsing, etc.) the Prolog learning 
>curve becomes steeper.

The problem with Prolog is *not* that predicate logic is hard.
What makes learning Prolog hard is that there is in fact a large
gulf between the declarative semantics and the operational semantics.
In order to program in Prolog, you need to know Prolog's complex
operational semantics.

-- 
Fergus Henderson             |  "Australia is the richest country in the world,
fjh@cs.mu.oz.au              |   according to a new system of measuring wealth
http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~fjh  |   announced by the World Bank yesterday."
PGP: finger fjh@128.250.37.3 |  - Melbourne newspaper "The Age", 18 Sept 1995.
