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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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  • Thursday, September 14, 2006 10:41 AM

    Simplicity

    I still see a lot of posts missing what I thought were the main points (which I agree with). BASIC originally came on the computer - nothing else to buy (or find for OSS fans). Nothing like that exists on WINDOWS computers now. And BASIC was simple. You didn't have to know anything about the computer. It was an interpreter, so you didn't have to know about compilers, linkers and such. Just type and run, and it would tell you exactly where you had a problem or it would just run. And it had very few commands. Very simple.

    This isn't about the best language to teach kids HOW to program, this is about giving kids the opportunity to try programming to see if it is for them. BASIC was simple and relatively pain free. If a child discovered they liked programming, they could learn more on their own or go to school (like I did).

    Thanks for the original article!

    —Jim Caple

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