[mercury-users] Mercury needs a Tutorial

[Ralph Becket]

Bas de Bakker wrote on 12 Feb:
> 
>     Wim> When you want to make a tutorial for lets say 1st or 2nd year
>     Wim> at university (computer-science department of course), you
>     Wim> can make it harder, with much more theory, less examples.
> 
> This was not my idea at all.  CS students can read the existing books
> on logic programming.

Hmm.  My take on this is that I am writing a tutorial for (a) computer
scientists who are (b) unfamiliar with logic/functional programming.
I therefore assume understanding of terms such as "strong typing",
"module", "import", "name space", "list" etc., but I don't assume
familiarity with logical variables, backtracking and so forth.  In
other words, I'm not attempting to teach people how to program, merely
how to program in Mercury.  My target audience is, I suppose,
undergrad. computer science students.

The route I've adopted so far is to look at small examples that can be
compiled and executed.  The plan is that stuff like modes,
determinism, polymorphic typing etc. should at least be familiar
entities by the time the tutorial gets to explain them in detail.

Ralph

-- 
Ralph Becket  |  rwab1 at cam.sri.com  |  http://www.cam.sri.com/people/becket.html