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As a Data Visualization enthusiast, I can say that Processing [0] is a great candidate for an introductory language to introduce programming (and computer scien

As a Data Visualization enthusiast, I can say that Processing [0] is a great candidate for an introductory language to introduce programming (and computer science in general). It is a less verbose subset and superset of Java at the same time, has a solid IDE providing great visual feedback as the code changes and you can introduce real, physical world concepts through classes, polymorphism and what not in a way that doesn't look too abstract. In fact, many visual arts courses have successfully introduced programming to an audience of designers and artists that are usually not fond of it. Installing it is a 100MB download away and you can even make use of the universal aspect of javascript through ProcessingJS [1] or p5.js [2], or even through Python [3]. [0]: https://processing.org/ https://processing.org/ [1]: http://processingjs.org/ http://processingjs.org/ [2]: http://p5js.org/ http://p5js.org/ [3]: http://py.processing.org/ http://py.processing.org/

danielrpa 11y ago
+1 For Processing. I was talking to a friend about that the other day and used this very same phrase "Processing is the new Basic". You can't talk about the joy of learning computers without having a very, very easy way to produce simple graphics. Processing delivers on that, it doesn't even require a main().
- arturhoo 11y ago
  Exactly, Imagine introducing programming to kids at the same time they learn the cartesian coordinate system, or allowing them to grasp f(x) = sin(x) visually through experimentation. And pointed somewhere else on this thread, you can publish your work using the HTML exporter - no need for other people to install languages, open the console, etc, etc... For those of you who don't know Processing, you can take a tour at http://hello.processing.org/ http://hello.processing.org/
iguessthislldo 11y ago
As much as I love python now for scripting and other simple tasks now, Processing was the first "real" programming platform I encountered (after learning the forgive the pun basics with BASIC on my trusty TI-89). It was simple to use, and introduced me to OOP, which blew my mind coming from TI-BASIC. I would recommend Processing to anyone that asks about getting started in programming.

danielrpa 11y ago

+1 For Processing. I was talking to a friend about that the other day and used this very same phrase "Processing is the new Basic". You can't talk about the joy of learning computers without having a very, very easy way to produce simple graphics. Processing delivers on that, it doesn't even require a main().

arturhoo 11y ago
Exactly, Imagine introducing programming to kids at the same time they learn the cartesian coordinate system, or allowing them to grasp f(x) = sin(x) visually through experimentation. And pointed somewhere else on this thread, you can publish your work using the HTML exporter - no need for other people to install languages, open the console, etc, etc... For those of you who don't know Processing, you can take a tour at http://hello.processing.org/ http://hello.processing.org/

iguessthislldo 11y ago

As much as I love python now for scripting and other simple tasks now, Processing was the first "real" programming platform I encountered (after learning the forgive the pun basics with BASIC on my trusty TI-89). It was simple to use, and introduced me to OOP, which blew my mind coming from TI-BASIC. I would recommend Processing to anyone that asks about getting started in programming.