There are 32 people in the class: this means that there will be 16 talks. These should be on Mondays or Wednesdays. As soon as possible, pick a Monday or a Wednesday on which you'd like to give your talk, and e-mail me. I'll let you know if you've got it, and indicate on the course web page which dates are taken and which are still available.
Every pair should talk about a different programming language. Therefore, it's first-come, first-served; the first pair to write to me indicating that they wish to talk about a given programming language has got it. You should choose from one of the languages listed below, which I've chosen as 16 highly influential languages:
The order that the languages appear in class should be roughly historical. If you want to speak about an old language, you should plan on doing it early in the term. If you want to speak about a recent language, you should plan on doing it late in the term.
You should cover the following information in your presentation:
The textbook website has a listing of languages and links that you might want to use as a starting point.
You should also prepare a handout for the class that is a reference
card, or "cheat sheet," for the language itself. It should be no more
than two sides of a sheet of paper, and should include the basics for
someone who wants to get a flavor of what the language is like. Make
sure to include your references on here as well.
I will be grading the reference cards and the presentations on
content as well as presentation. Keep in mind that the talk is only 10
minutes - I will be grading on choosing an appropriate amount of
material for such a short timeframe. Come by my office soon after your
talk and I will give you feedback on how it went.
The first two presentations are crucial, as after they are done I
will briefly discuss their ups and downs with the class. I promise to be
tasteful in my comments! I will grade the first two presentations more
leniently.