Why kids don't program
johnlawrenceaspden.blogspot.com
Why kids don't program
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Re: Why kids don't program
#2Re: Why kids don't program
#3The reason they don't program is that the computer is no longer a marvellous box of wonder. It's just a tool like a screw-driver or a book.
Re: Why kids don't program
#4Teach children to draw on a canvas in javascript.
You can easily make a page with a javascript editor and immediate evaluation if you wish, and simplified api.
Re: Why kids don't program
#5For me it was exactly the opposite. I started learning programming at 13 reading the zx spectrum manual chapter after chapter until I came to sin and cos which I did not know. My parents hadn't studied, so they could not tell me. Instead of just skipping that chapter, I gave up programming. Much later I studied economics. Working as an economist I discovered the fun of programming with visual basic, and then decided to become a programmer.
If in 1983 I could have googled sin and cos or read about it in wikipedia, I would have wasted much less time.
Re: Why kids don't program
#6There are so many more options than when he was writing BASIC programs on a ZX Spectrum. Choose something straightforward and stick with it. Python is about as simple as it gets. PLT Scheme is also a great option, it has a fully self-contained environment that includes much better graphics options than BASIC did, and is well-documented. There are lots of others - this post has some good discussion on a similar topic: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/950619/summer-holiday-pro...
Re: Why kids don't program
#7In reality, I'd wager there's a _lot lot_ more kids programming today than 30 years ago. How many people had a computing device at home back then?
This anecdote makes the point that a very specific kind of thinking was better suited by the tools of the late 70s, and maybe - I've never been much inclined towards it, so I dunno.
And what we consider 'programming' is blurrier than it used to be. Is HTML programming? What if you use a fancy editor like dreamweaver? Only when it becomes dynamic? Does CSS count? A lot of youngsters, when they aren't getting off my lawn, have done web stuff, and the fact that it's a gradual shift from being a user to being a programmer probably makes it even easier.
I find the whole premise of this blog post flawed. (Great Scott! Someone disagrees with someone else on the Internet!)
Re: Why kids don't program
#8In reality, I'd wager there's a _lot lot_ more kids programming today than 30 years ago. How many people had a computing device at home back then? This anecdote makes the point that a very specific kind of thinking was better suited by the tools of the late 70s, and maybe - I've never been much inclined towards it, so I dunno. And what we consider 'programming' is blurrier than it used to be. Is HTML programming? Wha…
And I disagree with you here. Writing declarative HTML and writing a simple interactive computer game are two activities that could not be more different.
Like it or not, the act of programming has become much more difficult than it once was. 1988 I could reboot my Apple IIgs, hold down a couple of keys, and I could start writing a BASIC program immediately.
Re: Why kids don't program
#9I had c-64 and one of the most frustrating memories from my childhood was that I couldn't get it to draw anything in a graphic mode. In manual the code to initiate graphic mode had error in it, or the manual was for different version of the computer, I still don't know.
Anyway - 8-bit computers were superb "teach-yourself-programming" machines, but I think novadays kids have internet access, so they will manage :)
PS. I would choose python + pygame to teach a kid graphic programming. It is simple, interpretted and has interactive console.
Re: Why kids don't program
#10There are so many more options than when he was writing BASIC programs on a ZX Spectrum. Choose something straightforward and stick with it. Python is about as simple as it gets. PLT Scheme is also a great option, it has a fully self-contained environment that includes much better graphics options than BASIC did, and is well-documented. There are lots of others - this post has some good discussion on a similar topic:…
Having more options means you have to figure out what choose. That doesn't make it easier, that makes it's harder.
It's also important that there be a lot of reference materials which would be easy for a kid to teach him/herself with.
For example: http://www.scribd.com/doc/200861/A-Touch-of-Applesoft-BASIC-...
This was the book I read when I was 10 years old. It was also easy to find BASIC code at the school library and in computer magazines.
How many current general computer magazines still publish useful bits of code ("How to access your mouse from Apple Basic", etc) ?