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My seven-year-old son has recently been getting his first experience of programming using the Lego Mindstorms visual programming environment [1]. It uses a simi

My seven-year-old son has recently been getting his first experience of programming using the Lego Mindstorms visual programming environment [1]. It uses a similar 'jigsaw puzzle' representation, and he just found it instantly intuitive. It has similar limitations to App Inventor, but I don't see support for recursion as being too important for this type of programming. [1] Example: http://www.techno-stuff.com/AirPressure.htm http://www.techno-stuff.com/AirPressure.htm

exDM69 15y ago
>> but I don't see support for recursion as being too important for this type of programming. That is a fair point, recursion is not directly used very often in conventional programming. However, to me, recursion is the missing link that makes a language a programming language (Turing complete). There is still work to do to find a better structured representation for computer programs than a string of characters is. PS. I think your son is old enough and motivated enough to get an Arduino or a Python book and start learning ;) That's about the age I started programming after seeing my dad stare at a blue text-filled screen all night trying to make ends meet as a freelancer.
- andyjohnson0 15y ago
  For the time being I'd like to keep the programming he does related to something physical - like the lego robot you program using the mindstorms environment. At his age I think he could become bored with just shuffling bits or putting text onto a screen, and anything sophisticated enough to impress him and hold his interest (probably graphical) might be to complex. Also the challenge of physically building a controllable robot is a nice contrast to the abstract programming task. I'd like to try him with Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu/ http://scratch.mit.edu/) before moving on to text-based programming (if he wants to). Python is a good idea: we could learn it together... I do have a netduino, and he's seem me working on that, but C# requires a lot of up-front knowledge. Arduino and wiring might be in his range. He's a bright kid and I've learned a lot just by seeing how he conceptualizes these ideas.
nl 15y ago
He might be interested in the Mindstorm components in App Inventor
- andyjohnson0 15y ago
  Thanks! I didn't know about that. Unfortunately we are using the older RCX mindstorms system, and the app inventor components only seem to work for the newer NXT system.

exDM69 15y ago

>> but I don't see support for recursion as being too important for this type of programming. That is a fair point, recursion is not directly used very often in conventional programming. However, to me, recursion is the missing link that makes a language a programming language (Turing complete). There is still work to do to find a better structured representation for computer programs than a string of characters is. PS. I think your son is old enough and motivated enough to get an Arduino or a Python book and start learning ;) That's about the age I started programming after seeing my dad stare at a blue text-filled screen all night trying to make ends meet as a freelancer.

andyjohnson0 15y ago
For the time being I'd like to keep the programming he does related to something physical - like the lego robot you program using the mindstorms environment. At his age I think he could become bored with just shuffling bits or putting text onto a screen, and anything sophisticated enough to impress him and hold his interest (probably graphical) might be to complex. Also the challenge of physically building a controllable robot is a nice contrast to the abstract programming task. I'd like to try him with Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu/ http://scratch.mit.edu/) before moving on to text-based programming (if he wants to). Python is a good idea: we could learn it together... I do have a netduino, and he's seem me working on that, but C# requires a lot of up-front knowledge. Arduino and wiring might be in his range. He's a bright kid and I've learned a lot just by seeing how he conceptualizes these ideas.

nl 15y ago

He might be interested in the Mindstorm components in App Inventor

andyjohnson0 15y ago
Thanks! I didn't know about that. Unfortunately we are using the older RCX mindstorms system, and the app inventor components only seem to work for the newer NXT system.