Teaching an object-oriented CS1 -: with Python

  • Authors:

  • Michael H. Goldwasser;David Letscher

  • Affiliations:

  • Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA;Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 13th annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
  • Year:
  • 2008

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Abstract

There is an ongoing debate regarding the role of object orientation in the introductory programming sequence. While the pendulum swings to and fro between the "objects first" and "back to basics" extremes, there is general agreement that object-oriented programming is central to modern software development and therefore integral to a computer science curriculum. Developing effective approaches to teach these principles raises challenges that have been exacerbated by the use of Java or C++ as the first instructional language. In this paper, we recommend Python as an excellent choice for teaching an object-oriented CS1. Although often viewed as a "scripting" language, Python is a fully object-oriented language with a consistent object model and a rich set of built-in classes. Based upon our experiences, we describe aspects of the language that help support a balanced introduction to object orientation in CS1. We also discuss the downstream effects on our students' transition to Java and C++ in subsequent courses.