I tried getting into programming as a kid, but I never really got to a point where I was having fun, printing stuff into a terminal just isn't really... engaging, and gui stuff looked complicated. One day I bought a kit with electronics which had an arduino in it. And when I decided to try that thing out, I found out you can make stuff happen in the real world with code. So ye, arduino, that is what worked for me.
Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?
151–160 of 192 posts
Re: Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?
#152The thing that did it for me was building a "web browser" in VB6 using a printed book and copying the lines one by one. It was just a wrapper around a webview with a few buttons and text fields to navigate.
I think what I found amazing what that it was relatively easy to rebuild something that I used every day and that was immensely cool/useful.
So maybe help him rebuild a basic instagram / TikTok clone app on a mobile device?
Re: Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?
#153There is nothing wrong with BASIC or turtle graphics. Those would probably be awesome places to start at least for a few sessions. Google for online turtle graphics or basic or emulators. The main thing is that he finds something that is interesting and approachable. Build up small achievements. Let him start with simple examples and then figure out how to change colors or the number of iterations in a loop. Don't ru…
Yep, BASIC with line numbers is underrated these days for beginning programming. Sure, it won’t get you far, but it helps to start without much abstraction and gradually build from there.
Re: Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not?
What is a four letter word that starts with “P”? That’s a big reason I’d guess.
Tell her don't send pictures, don't give name/address, and don't meet people, and she's safe? (She already should have applied these rules IRL from a much younger age anyway.)
Re: Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?
#155Python is a great option because it is high-level, easy to pick up, powerful and has a library for anything they are interested in pursuing. Something like streamlit is cool because you can write a small amount of code to build a useful web app that you can interact with. For data viz related things, Jupyter + Python (maybe Pandas, not SciPy or NumPy unless that sort of math is specifically interesting to them) Javas…
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Re: Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?
#156Python is a great option because it is high-level, easy to pick up, powerful and has a library for anything they are interested in pursuing. Something like streamlit is cool because you can write a small amount of code to build a useful web app that you can interact with. For data viz related things, Jupyter + Python (maybe Pandas, not SciPy or NumPy unless that sort of math is specifically interesting to them) Javas…
I believe there are plenty of languages better than Python to start programming. Python provides zero interesting or unique ways to look at the world. It's like starting to teach dance with TikTok dances.
Re: Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?
#157VS Code and Python is good.
Another is to just let them build a website, so learn some javascript to make games and put them up there.
Re: Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not the parent but, as the parent of a 16 year old, I can imagine that some kids at age 12 simply aren't mature enough to be let loose on the internet.
Yes, this is pretty common. For the most part my friends and work pals who are all software engineers or work closely with tech (DBAs, SREs, Sec). Their children aren’t allowed to use the internet unsupervised or in some cases not at all. Pretty much all of us don’t let our kids use social media. For my friends who don’t work in tech, their kids all have social media and use the internet unsupervised.
I think it's a good idea, but I wonder if this would work if you didn't have a circle of like-minded friends for the kid. For most kids nowadays (and adults, increasingly), there wouldn't be much social interaction outside the family if they were prohibited from social media.
Re: Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?
#159If he is interested in playing video games, I would recommend "Learn to Code FROM ZERO with Godot, the Biggest Free Game Engine"
Re: Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?
#160How about an Arduino with a kit of parts?