5 ms·

Interesting, everyone here (including myself in my earlier post) seems to be ignoring one of the OPs primary points: BASIC, with its ugly GOTOs, is a lot more l

Interesting, everyone here (including myself in my earlier post) seems to be ignoring one of the OPs primary points: BASIC, with its ugly GOTOs, is a lot more like assembly language than anything else mentioned here (as far as I know. I don't know smalltalk or LOGO). Does anyone think that point is meaningful or BS? I, for one, see two sides: 1) I agree that this can give kids a good understanding of how a computer works... but at least with QBasic there are functions so some teachers will be tempted to not teach GOTOs. 2) Kids don't care. As @trordan mentioned, anything command line will seem boring to kids nowadays. However, I don't see any reason why you can't have a programming language which is, in some sense, a "high level low level language" and still can produce neat graphics. I don't know if it exists though...

jluxenberg 17y ago
I think you might be looking for Alice: http://www.alice.org/ http://www.alice.org/
aufreak3 17y ago
Coincidental to this topic, I posted a roughly recollected memory of my first ever encounter with a computer. http://connecting2u.blogspot.com/2009/12/basic-stuff.html http://connecting2u.blogspot.com/2009/12/basic-stuff.html
kiiski 17y ago
I first learned programming in language called CoolBasic. It's simple basic like language meant for making simple 2d games. It doesn't have any command line functionality at all, and a program always has exactly one window where everything happens. It had built-in commands for loading and showing images, playing sounds, making game objects and moving them, collisions between them, tilemaps, etc. It has it's own IDE with integrated manual (with tutorials, explanations and examples of all commands). While it was impossible to do anything advanced in it (without using dll-files), it was really easy to make a simple game with it. The current version of the language is outdated (uses directx 7 for graphics, no hardware acceleration, etc.), but a new version is in development. The language is made by a finn and does not currently have official english manual, but the next version is supposed to have (there are some translations made by the community). http://www.coolbasic.com/index.php?lang=en http://www.coolbasic.com/index.php?lang=en
- aufreak3 17y ago
  Nice link. Instant gratification is central for any environment targeted at kids. That said, Logo's motive was to have a low threshold and no ceiling, whereas CoolBasic's motive seems to be a low threshold, but a fairly low ceiling as well. So .. not a solved problem yet :)
aufreak3 17y ago
Understanding how a computer works is a somewhat different goal from that of infusing computational thinking. anything command line will seem boring to kids nowadays Not quite. Remote control, for example, will always have its appeal - that you do something in one place that causes something to happen in another apparently physically disconnected location. So if what the command-line controls is "distant" enough, it'll be fun. I don't intend to say that command-line is the ideal interaction mode, but it doesn't need to be thrown out of the toolbox just yet.

jluxenberg 17y ago

I think you might be looking for Alice: http://www.alice.org/ http://www.alice.org/

aufreak3 17y ago

Coincidental to this topic, I posted a roughly recollected memory of my first ever encounter with a computer. http://connecting2u.blogspot.com/2009/12/basic-stuff.html http://connecting2u.blogspot.com/2009/12/basic-stuff.html

kiiski 17y ago

I first learned programming in language called CoolBasic. It's simple basic like language meant for making simple 2d games. It doesn't have any command line functionality at all, and a program always has exactly one window where everything happens. It had built-in commands for loading and showing images, playing sounds, making game objects and moving them, collisions between them, tilemaps, etc. It has it's own IDE with integrated manual (with tutorials, explanations and examples of all commands). While it was impossible to do anything advanced in it (without using dll-files), it was really easy to make a simple game with it. The current version of the language is outdated (uses directx 7 for graphics, no hardware acceleration, etc.), but a new version is in development. The language is made by a finn and does not currently have official english manual, but the next version is supposed to have (there are some translations made by the community). http://www.coolbasic.com/index.php?lang=en http://www.coolbasic.com/index.php?lang=en

aufreak3 17y ago
Nice link. Instant gratification is central for any environment targeted at kids. That said, Logo's motive was to have a low threshold and no ceiling, whereas CoolBasic's motive seems to be a low threshold, but a fairly low ceiling as well. So .. not a solved problem yet :)

aufreak3 17y ago

Understanding how a computer works is a somewhat different goal from that of infusing computational thinking. anything command line will seem boring to kids nowadays Not quite. Remote control, for example, will always have its appeal - that you do something in one place that causes something to happen in another apparently physically disconnected location. So if what the command-line controls is "distant" enough, it'll be fun. I don't intend to say that command-line is the ideal interaction mode, but it doesn't need to be thrown out of the toolbox just yet.