Stephen Waits wrote:
> Bill Guindon wrote:
> 
>>
>> Forgetting OOP for a moment, and thinking WWW instead...
>> It's stateless.
>> Learn how to manage hidden values.
> 
> 
> I agree.. important to teach.
> 
> However, in this case.. COBOL -> Ruby, I'd say forget the WWW 
> altogether, teach Ruby.
> 
> You should be able to quickly teach them how to do the same things they 
> do every day in COBOL, only in Ruby.  You can even show them some OO 
> stuff without having to dive completely into the OO pool.  By doing that 
> first, maybe you can keep them tuned in awhile longer.  Then you can 
> approach the topics more foreign to your students.
> 
> But, the bottom line is that you're going to *have* to teach them about 
> Objects if they're to learn Ruby.

All true enough.

My own list:

I'd emphasize character-oriented I/O, since they are so used to
fixed-length records read a record at a time.

I'd show them irb, which is fun to play in.

I'd emphasize that "it's all PROCEDURE DIVISION" -- all of a Ruby
program is executed, no real declarations.

I'd emphasize that variables are untyped, and introduce the concept
of object references.

Etc....


<joke>When the COBOL guys heard about C++, they were jealous. They made
an OOP version of their own language... called ADD ONE TO COBOL.</joke>


Hal