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Learn many of the concepts that underlie all programming languages. Use functional programming and contrast it with object-oriented programming. Through experience writing programs and studying three different languages, learn the key issues in designing and using programming languages, such as modularity and the complementary benefits of static and dynamic typing. This course is neither particularly theoretical nor just about programming specifics – it will give you a framework for understanding how to use language constructs effectively and how to design correct and elegant programs. By using different languages, you learn to think more deeply than in terms of the particular syntax of one language. The emphasis on functional programming is essential for learning how to write robust, reusable, composable, and elegant programs – in any language.

Topics (most of which may not mean anything to you until you take the course):

Syntax vs. semantics vs. idioms vs. libraries vs. tools
ML basics (bindings, conditionals, records, functions)
Recursive functions and recursive types
Benefits of no mutation
Algebraic datatypes, pattern matching
Tail recursion
First-class functions and function closures
Lexical scope
Currying
Syntactic sugar
Equivalence and effects
Parametric polymorphism and container types
Type inference
Abstract types and modules
Racket basics
Dynamic vs. static typing
Laziness, streams, and memoization
Implementing languages, especially higher-order functions
Macros
Eval
Ruby basics
Object-oriented programming is dynamic dispatch
Pure object-orientation
Implementing dynamic dispatch
Multiple inheritance, interfaces, and mixins
OOP vs. functional decomposition and extensibility
Subtyping for records, functions, and objects
Subtyping
Class-based subtyping
Subtyping vs. parametric polymorphism; bounded polymorphism