[R] A comment about R

[Liaw, Andy]

From: Patrick Burns
> 
> John Maindonald wrote:
> 
> > ...
> >
> >(4) When should students start learning R?
> >
> >[Students should get their first exposure to a high-level 
> programming  
> >language, in the style of R then Python or Octave, at age 11-14.   
> >There are now good alternatives to the former use of Fortran or  
> >Pascal, languages which have for good reason dropped out of favour  
> >for learning experience. They should start on R while their 
> minds are  
> >still malleable, and long before they need it for serious 
> research use.]
> >  
> >
> 
> I think 11-14 years old might better be halved.  Kids are
> playing very complicated video games barely after they
> learn to walk.

My kids (7- and 5-year old) barely get an hour on video games a week, and I
can see that they lag behind their peers at the games (though I don't feel
sorry for that).  I hope I won't be acused of `endangering welfare of
children'...
 
> R is a quite reasonable programming language for children.
> You don't need to worry about low-level issues, and it is
> easy to produce graphics with it.

Any suggestion on how to go about getting kids that young on (R)
programming?

Cheers,
Andy

 
> Patrick Burns
> patrick at burns-stat.com
> +44 (0)20 8525 0696
> http://www.burns-stat.com
> (home of S Poetry and "A Guide for the Unwilling S User")
> 
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