HP Prime or HP 50g

[Manolo Sobrino]

(03-20-2014 09:01 PM)eried Wrote:  Math vs CAS was clearly forced by schools/SAT, etc (option #2 is the wonderful TI solution: 2 calcs).

About programming, I think isn't about the language (they constantly change, and you can't expect somebody writing their daily quick & dirty timesavers in plain C) and HPPPL isn't a mind-messing language like old basic (no goto, no line numbers) so it is a good start point for basic logical thinking (in opposite to the HP50g's programming capabilities, where they make you feel *special* because nobody understand the code; but after few weeks you don't even understand what you wrote).

So you need a CAS console to disable the CAS... wow. They already have a 2nd calc, it's the 39 GII.

The fun part about teaching programming with a calculator is when you load the activities onto the calculator with your computer. You could be learning how to program it instead, but it's obvious that coding in the calculator has to be so much better... You can even code in a calculator with the emulator in your PC, how cool is that?

ANSI C hasn't changed since 1989 and probably everything in K&R will run for decades. We're talking about introducing programming to kids, not growing up and having auxiliary tools around, that is secondary. If school is about school things, what's the point of school?