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> Writing Basic programs (I'm teaching my son Basic) reminds me that there was once a time when I used to be impressed when my programs were long. Look at all t

> Writing Basic programs (I'm teaching my son Basic) reminds me that there was once a time when I used to be impressed when my programs were long. Look at all the work I've done, I used to think. I am glad I am not alone I thinking that BASIC is still a great language to teach young kids to program. I love how there is not a lot of boilerplate (for example the parenthesis for the print call in python and indentation).

DanBC 7y ago
It's possible to use BASIC on the ESP8266 / NodeMCU boards: http://www.esp8266basic.com/# http://www.esp8266basic.com/# At the moment primary school age (5 to 10) children in the UK seem to learn some flavour of Scratch. And then (in the UK) they also tinker with boards like Crumble or CodeBug or BBC Micro:Bit (which use blockly or MS MakeCode or something a bit like Scratch). I don't know what the next step in progression is. I'm curious about what HN readers would think good stepping stones would be? Direct to Python, or something else then to python? BBC Micro:Bit https://microbit.org/ https://microbit.org/ Crumble https://redfernelectronics.co.uk/crumble/ https://redfernelectronics.co.uk/crumble/ Codebug http://www.codebug.org.uk/ http://www.codebug.org.uk/
- pbhjpbhj 7y ago
  Python seems to be what's chosen next; couple of years ago I did the UMich/Coursera course "Python for Everybody" as prep for parenting a high-schooler as I'd never done any Python, good level for that. I think if they're looking at the js behind the blocks in blockly that python isn't a very big step.
kleiba 7y ago
C64 BASIC was the first language I learned which is probably true for lots and lots of other people. However, I learned it by reading the book that came with the computer and trying it out. I cannot really imagine someone teaching me a programming language. Half the fun was trying to "get it". I think that if I had had someone teaching me BASIC back then, it would half felt like trying to solve a Sudoku with someone watching over your shoulder and telling you which numbers to put.
axaxs 7y ago
Same here. Truth be told, I likely wouldn't be a programmer today if not for BASIC. My first exposure to programming as a kid was actually a COBOL book, explaining how to punch cards. Didn't get far there. Bought a C++ book and didn't get far there either. Found BASIC and found myself writing til my fingers were sore. One thing it taught me about myself is that I'm very very biased and/or strongly opinionated about languages and how they look. Love BASIC, hate COBOL. Love Python, hate Perl. Love Go, hate Rust. I feel like I'm cheating myself out of cool paradigms, but my brain has this builtin disgust reaction I can't get past.

DanBC 7y ago

It's possible to use BASIC on the ESP8266 / NodeMCU boards: http://www.esp8266basic.com/# http://www.esp8266basic.com/# At the moment primary school age (5 to 10) children in the UK seem to learn some flavour of Scratch. And then (in the UK) they also tinker with boards like Crumble or CodeBug or BBC Micro:Bit (which use blockly or MS MakeCode or something a bit like Scratch). I don't know what the next step in progression is. I'm curious about what HN readers would think good stepping stones would be? Direct to Python, or something else then to python? BBC Micro:Bit https://microbit.org/ https://microbit.org/ Crumble https://redfernelectronics.co.uk/crumble/ https://redfernelectronics.co.uk/crumble/ Codebug http://www.codebug.org.uk/ http://www.codebug.org.uk/

pbhjpbhj 7y ago
Python seems to be what's chosen next; couple of years ago I did the UMich/Coursera course "Python for Everybody" as prep for parenting a high-schooler as I'd never done any Python, good level for that. I think if they're looking at the js behind the blocks in blockly that python isn't a very big step.

kleiba 7y ago

C64 BASIC was the first language I learned which is probably true for lots and lots of other people. However, I learned it by reading the book that came with the computer and trying it out. I cannot really imagine someone teaching me a programming language. Half the fun was trying to "get it". I think that if I had had someone teaching me BASIC back then, it would half felt like trying to solve a Sudoku with someone watching over your shoulder and telling you which numbers to put.

axaxs 7y ago

Same here. Truth be told, I likely wouldn't be a programmer today if not for BASIC. My first exposure to programming as a kid was actually a COBOL book, explaining how to punch cards. Didn't get far there. Bought a C++ book and didn't get far there either. Found BASIC and found myself writing til my fingers were sore. One thing it taught me about myself is that I'm very very biased and/or strongly opinionated about languages and how they look. Love BASIC, hate COBOL. Love Python, hate Perl. Love Go, hate Rust. I feel like I'm cheating myself out of cool paradigms, but my brain has this builtin disgust reaction I can't get past.