On the use of pointers and the teaching of disciplined programming
S. E.R. de Carvalho, Miguel Angelo A. Nóvoa · 1976
In the past few years there has been considerable debate over the question of pointers in programming languages. Some maintain that pointers should not be allowed, while others try to restrict their use in a number of ways. In this paper we try to justify our view that pointers are a natural and useful way to teach beginners in Computer Science to manipulate list structures, provided a group of strong limitations is placed upon them. We define pointers in SPL, a language to teach beginners disciplined programming.