File:TFPIE 2013 Principles to Practice with Class.pdf

We propose a bridge between functional and object-oriented programming in the first-year curriculum. Traditionally, curricula that begin with functional programming transition to a professional, usually object-oriented, language in the second course. This transition poses numerous obstacles to students, and often results in confusing the details of development environments, syntax, and libraries with the fundamentals that the course focuses on. Our proposal instead begins the second course with a sequence of custom teaching languages which minimize the transition from the first course, and allow students to focus on the core ideas. We then transition to Java half-way through the course, at which point students have a strong command of the basic ideas. We have 3 years of experience with this course, and it has produced notable success.