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Thursday, September 14, 2006 12:00 AM

Why Johnny can't code

BASIC used to be on every computer a child touched -- but today there's no easy way for kids to get hooked on programming.
By David Brin

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  • Tuesday, September 19, 2006 04:30 PM

    BUILD THIS FOR YOUR CHILDREN

    So, basically, you're advocating the creation and construction of a "starter" programming language, like Basic.

    But hopefully NOT Basic, because Basic was a bad language that didn't scale well into teaching you concepts that are really important in today's programming.

    But overall I find merit in your proposal! Something small, light, something that will respond from the command line but still be able to scale up to modern concepts. Like your typewriter, primitive, but powerful enough to allow you mind to roam within its capabilities.

    We should do this. OPEN SOURCE COMMUNITY - YOU ARE NEGLECTING YOUR ROOTS. YOU OWE IT TO THE FUTURE TO PROVIDE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION. BUILD THIS FOR YOUR CHILDREN.

    coherent805@yahoo.com

    —Coherent

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