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Below His Level

Jack Daniel T DTrahan at cfl.rr.com
Sun Feb 23 20:06:35 EST 2003 
"Cousin Stanley" <CousinStanley at HotMail.com> wrote:

>> || My son is 11 and wants to try programming ...
>> || ...
>> || I'd like him to be able to do simple graphics fairly early,
>> || since I think it makes the whole self-learning process
>> || much more interesting.
>> || ...

> Mike ...
> 
> This is  NOT  a Python solution, but you might take a look
> at the Drawing Programming Environment called DRAPE
> which was designed with kids in mind ...
> 
>     http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/kids/drape.html
> 
> Drape was written to teach children some basic aspects of programming.
> 
> It has some resemblance to Logo but Drape is completely visually oriented.
> 
> Children don't need to be able to read.
> 
> Like in Logo, programs in Drape create a drawing.
> 
> A program in Drape consists of a number of commands.
> 
> There are commands that draw lines and shapes,
> commands that move to a particular position,
> commands that set properties, like color,
> line width and size, and control commands,
> e.g. to repeat commands, to call procedures,
> and to test for mouse buttons.
> 
> Each command is represented by a little picture.
> 
> A program is a sequence of these pictures.
> 
> You create a program by dragging the pictures
> to the appropriate place in the sequence.

Sounds like a great tool for younger children, but I think by 11 years
old they're a little above this level. I myself am almost 16, and have
been experimenting with different languages in one way or another
since I was 9 or 10. I started out not knowing were to go, I didn't
have good direction. The internet is a great resource, if you know
where to look. I regret not having the opportunity to use such a
graphical language such as DRAPE when I was younger.


My suggestion to him would be to make an honest attemp to learn
python, its a great starter. The first time I tried to tackle C a few
years back there, I found myself getting bogged down in some of the
aspects of a lower level language. Python is a high level language, it
allowed me to avoid many of these early pitfalls in my programming
experience. It also enabled me to then easily achieve a great working
knowledge of both C and C++.

As you learn one aspect of the language, try to apply it to a
practical problem. APPLY the language. Use it for your homework math
problems and such. I use Python all the time. From writing simple
programs for my own use and/or amusment, to solving complex problems,
I have found my knowledge in programming to be very useful.

A great starting point for Python is the book "Learning Python" by
Mark Lutz and David Ascher ISBN 1-56592-464-9 This is were I started
my journey.
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