Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderWhen I took an introduction to Computer Science in college, it was taught in Racket. Over winter break, I then learned Python, and I was baffled -- why would any curriculum not start with Python? Python was easy, expressive, and allowed the user to get lots done with little effort. It was great at motivating programming by showing its use and power. It seemed like an ideal introductory language. Over the last few years, however, I've back-tracked on this opinion…
I believe that teaching programming should be centered around teaching programming concepts as opposed to languages, a la SICP or Concept Techniques Models of Computer Programming. The languages used there (Scheme and Oz) are just vehicles to teaching timeless concepts. Teach a language and you will prepare someone for the present. Teach concepts and will you prepare someone for the future. By concepts I mean things like closures, higher-order-programming, concurrency, explicit state, inheritance, security…
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 299
- Total comments
- 292
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-01-21 | Retiring Python as a Teaching LanguageFirst breakout · Best thread · Latest 20+ point return | xngzng | 280 | 235 |
| 2017-12-31 | Retiring Python as a Teaching Language (2015) | signa11 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018-01-07 | Retiring Python as a Teaching Language | nafizh | 18 | 57 |