RE: Integer & String vs Number & Text

I agree that Number and Text are more intuitive,

and they do have the advantage of deferring the discussion

of types of numbers and how sequences of alphanumerics are represented...

 

but I'd add that Expressions are even more fundamental,

and make it possible to discuss things like the difference 

between "4" and 4 and "move" and move, and so on.

 

Just that can give enough material to talk about differences

between programming languages, keywords, syntax,

evaluation, ...

 

Kevin

 

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kurtis Rainbolt-Greene
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 5:11 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Io] Integer & String vs Number & Text

 

  

Normally in Programming a numeric entity is called an Integer (when
it's not a Float, or similar complex number) and a series of
characters is called a String.

As a teacher of programming I often find myself explaining what String
and Integer are. They're not normally used words outside of
programming, math, or other complex scientific domains.

I've found, if a bit controversial, it much easier to call them by
their more used synonyms: Number & Text. People have a easier time
grasping onto that.

Thoughts?



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