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Why MIT switched from Scheme to Python (2009)

(www.wisdomandwonder.com)
284 points borski | 1 comments | 25 Jul 25 16:38 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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anthk ◴[25 Jul 25 16:47 UTC] No.44685229[source]▶
Scheme it's far easier to grasp. With SICP you basically rewrite a Scheme within a Scheme. And you teach Calculus to the interpreter to solve further problems.

Online SICP: http://sarabander.github.io/sicp/

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glimshe ◴[25 Jul 25 17:04 UTC] No.44685461[source]▶
To do that with Scheme/SICP, you actually have to understand the CS principles behind it. Not as much with Python, which is likely why it became a more popular choice.
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postepowanieadm ◴[25 Jul 25 17:10 UTC] No.44685536[source]▶
Shouldn't that be the point?
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1. glimshe ◴[25 Jul 25 20:45 UTC] No.44688230[source]▶
That's what I'm trying to say. SICP teaches you to think differently and "grok" the CS concepts. This isn't always the case with other approaches, which can be much more reliant on blind copy-and-paste and library functionality.