From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc
T,
People don't need to understand all the code to assemble and link it.
That might be a good approach if you are only interrested in the end result, but definitily not for an aspiring programmer - for which the road towards
the goal probably is more important than the goal itself.
It might be used by a teacher as a "look, this is how easy it is" show preliminary to doing something yourself, but not much more.
Learning how to use the build tools comes first.
I disagree there. You first create the need for a tool, and than explain how its used (best way: Have them ask how to do a certain thing). The
lesson will be remembered /much/ better that way.
You can fix bugs and add features later, as skills advance.
In my experience its the other way around : Its the challenge to figure out how to add a certain feature is what advances their skills. And I've often used fixing "bugs" as a challenge to learn new stuff.
Than again, I've never had the displeasure to have to instruct kids who
didn't want to learn to program, so my experiences might be different from
the ones of teachers infront of a disinterrested classroom.
Regards,
Rudy Wieser
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