[Year 12 SofDev] Should I teach lists?

Mon Mar 7 11:30:31 AEDT 2016

I'm no expert here so I'm very happy to be corrected but this poses a problem with PHP and Python where arrays and lists are interchangeable. In PHP and Python arrays can contain elements of different types: e.g.

> $fred = array("Fred", "Smith", 40, 78.50) so $fred[2] + $fred[3] = 118.5 but $fred[0] + $fred[1] should throw an error in PHP, not in Python.
> 
> or
> 
> $fred = array("FName"=>"Fred", SName"=>"Smith", "Age"=>40, "Weight"=> 78.5)

I seem to remember having this discussion with Kevork back in 2010!

Laurie

Laurie Savage
IT Teacher/Assessment and Reporting Coordinator
Pascoe Vale Girls College

> On 7 Mar 2016, at 11:09 AM, Chris Bucknell <Chris.Bucknell at haileybury.vic.edu.au> wrote:
> 
> Hi All, <>
>  
> Like Damien I don’t encourage my students to use List and Dictionaries because in they tend to confuse them and arrays when it comes to exams.  So I find it simpler to avoid them and get the students to understand what’s on the study design and what they’ll be assessed on.
>  
> Cheers  
>  
> Chris Bucknell
> Head of CDT; Coord, Internal Exam; House Tutor
> +61 3 9904 6360
> Chris.Bucknell at haileybury.vic.edu.au <mailto:%7bemail%7d>
> www.haileybury.vic.edu.au <http://www.haileybury.vic.edu.au/>
> 
> 
> From: sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au <mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au <mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au>] On Behalf Of ATKINSON-BUCK, Damien
> Sent: Monday, 7 March 2016 10:38 AM
> To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Year 12 SofDev] Should I teach lists?
>  
> Hi Ben,
>               Personally steer away from Lists and Dictionaries, even though they’re technically easier to use (and in at least the case of dictionaries, sometimes faster) purely because I don’t want to add any extra confusion for the students. When it comes to exams, they are likely to be asked questions about arrays. If they put in an example in list format, an exam assessor may not get that and give them zero…. Especially if you look at RemoveAt() and other list shortcuts. 
> That’s just my overly cautious approach, quite possibly I’m underselling the students ability to discriminate the best time to use it.
> Cheers
> Damien
>  
>  
> Damien Atkinson-Buck  
> Head of Learning Area: Technology/Arts 
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> From: Baas, Benjamin B [mailto:baas.benjamin.b at edumail.vic.gov.au <mailto:baas.benjamin.b at edumail.vic.gov.au>] 
> Sent: Monday, 7 March 2016 9:49 AM
> To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List
> Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] Should I teach lists?
>  
> Hi all,
>  
> I’m contemplating whether on not I should teach my students about Lists in C# and VB as they will be of more use to them then Arrays when doing their SAT (List are dynamic and have more functionality). I just wanted to know what peoples thoughts are on this and if they go beyond the data collections mentioned in the study design. The SD just mentions Arrays and Records.
>  
> Cheers,
>  
> Ben.
>  
> Benjamin Baas
> <image005.png> Alkira Secondary College
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