The thing is, early in their study, students are learning that compilers exist at the same time that they are learning a language. They should become familiar with a compiler, and in the case of Java that it generates class files, that they pass them to a JVM, to inform them of the state of the art of tooling architecture, or even to help them imagine that they could change some pieces or swap them out.
Using the tools directly serves to re-enforce all these concepts.
They can get to know other tools for that same language like in your Borland example, sure. But if you didn't know the compiler existed, you would be in trouble. And in C you will also want to understand the preprocessor and linker.
Using the tools directly serves to re-enforce all these concepts.
They can get to know other tools for that same language like in your Borland example, sure. But if you didn't know the compiler existed, you would be in trouble. And in C you will also want to understand the preprocessor and linker.