Advice on how to help an 11 year old start programming...
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Small Basic[^] is a good way to get started.
I didn't get any requirements for the signature
Good advice and he will be "brain dead" by 15. It's VB.Net for Dummies. Forget the language; He should learn the concepts of software development and then he can code in any language. Programming is like shoeing horses, once you learn how to do it properly, the horse becomes unimportant.
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I am using the most modern one there is[^] and have no intention of installing additional ones.
Hey, Nemanja, here was I thinking you were an anti-MS zealot. :)
Kevin
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Start him out with C. That's truly the best way to get the kid ready for real programming.
Totally unsuitable as a first programming language.
Adam Maras wrote:
get the kid ready for real programming
Rubbish. C is just a particular type of language (oriented to systems programming). Other languages are just as "real." Best to start with something higher level and more productive and then delve deeper later. That's also the approach Stroustrup recommends for learning C++ btw. Start from the high-level (in the context of C++) concepts then drop to the low level later on.
Kevin
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I was talking to my sons soccer coach last night before their game and my vocation came up. She said that her 11 year old son wants to learn to program computers, and asked if I had any advice to help him get started. What would you have said? He has an interest in robotics and games. To my knowledge he has zero programming experience or training. Something cross platform and very inexpensive (free) would be best. Instant gratification with a simple 'install' process. (I may be underestimating his abilities. I think he's pretty smart.) Ideally, my involvement in this wouldn't extend past the initial push in the 'right' direction. Thanks for the advice!
I'd recommend a basic language, whoever suggested using 'C' must have been trying to put him of. There is a demo version of a programming language called Blitz Basic which has a very supportive community and comes with a number of example pieces of code for you to crib from. What more it allows manipulation of 3D objects from very simple commands, which is probably a little more gratifying than seeing "hello world" in a terminal window from C. Here is a link to the Blitz3D product: http://www.blitzbasic.com/Products/blitz3d.php ;) there is a product called Blitzplus which is a simpler version (no 3D element), both the products have demos available to download from here http://www.blitzbasic.com/Products/\_index\_.php Lego mindstorms can be gratifying, but I'd wait until he is 14 or 15 before opting for this..... I've used it in conjunction with a HNC in BIT and trust me, Blitz3D is a lot more gratifying for the level of effort that needs to be exerted.
Keep on coding
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I was talking to my sons soccer coach last night before their game and my vocation came up. She said that her 11 year old son wants to learn to program computers, and asked if I had any advice to help him get started. What would you have said? He has an interest in robotics and games. To my knowledge he has zero programming experience or training. Something cross platform and very inexpensive (free) would be best. Instant gratification with a simple 'install' process. (I may be underestimating his abilities. I think he's pretty smart.) Ideally, my involvement in this wouldn't extend past the initial push in the 'right' direction. Thanks for the advice!
Maybe have a look at Alice[^] (from Carnegie Mellon University) as an introduction to programming concepts. "Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web." Demonstration videos showing the basics of what you can do with Alice are located here[^]
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I was talking to my sons soccer coach last night before their game and my vocation came up. She said that her 11 year old son wants to learn to program computers, and asked if I had any advice to help him get started. What would you have said? He has an interest in robotics and games. To my knowledge he has zero programming experience or training. Something cross platform and very inexpensive (free) would be best. Instant gratification with a simple 'install' process. (I may be underestimating his abilities. I think he's pretty smart.) Ideally, my involvement in this wouldn't extend past the initial push in the 'right' direction. Thanks for the advice!
My son started with Lego and moved to Mods on YouTube for a Battlefield game and now creating his own games on Microsoft XNA with a USB connected controller. He reviewed Microsoft Popfly too. I think he got XNA through www.DREAMSPARK.com. Mary
Just Mary
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Check out Scratch, from MIT Media Lab - it is a visual programming language that will quickly give them all the concepts. It's possibly targetted at slightly younger age group but even an 11 y/o is going to quickly get a lot of fun out of it.
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I was talking to my sons soccer coach last night before their game and my vocation came up. She said that her 11 year old son wants to learn to program computers, and asked if I had any advice to help him get started. What would you have said? He has an interest in robotics and games. To my knowledge he has zero programming experience or training. Something cross platform and very inexpensive (free) would be best. Instant gratification with a simple 'install' process. (I may be underestimating his abilities. I think he's pretty smart.) Ideally, my involvement in this wouldn't extend past the initial push in the 'right' direction. Thanks for the advice!
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Basic stamp kit[^] from Radio Shack. 11 might be a bit young for this but if he's motivated and thinks he may be in to robotics it just the ticket. You get a load of stuff for the money -- led display, blinky lights, sensors, switches and dials... I think you can also get it direct from Parallax via the web. The programming is plain Basic and the book it comes with it is really well done. After the first chapter you'll have a set of blinking diodes amongst a rats nest of wires and chips. Real mad scientist stuff. The initial setup will need some assistance to get the software installed and the com port set up (you will need a USB to serial adaptor if there isn't a serial port on his PC), but after that it is completely self contained. You should get one for yourself too :)
Robert Surtees wrote:
You should get one for yourself too Smile
I should too - I've been wanting to rediscover my electronics training of twenty years ago.
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Basic stamp kit[^] from Radio Shack. 11 might be a bit young for this but if he's motivated and thinks he may be in to robotics it just the ticket. You get a load of stuff for the money -- led display, blinky lights, sensors, switches and dials... I think you can also get it direct from Parallax via the web. The programming is plain Basic and the book it comes with it is really well done. After the first chapter you'll have a set of blinking diodes amongst a rats nest of wires and chips. Real mad scientist stuff. The initial setup will need some assistance to get the software installed and the com port set up (you will need a USB to serial adaptor if there isn't a serial port on his PC), but after that it is completely self contained. You should get one for yourself too :)
Go and get [squeak](<a href=)[^]"> this is Small talk based. So fully object orientated. It runs as a virtual machine on the major three OS's (Win, Linux and Mac OS X). Running as a VM means your work in your PC should be safe ;) If you are new to Smalltalk (I guess many are) then I can really rocommend the book "Squeak: Learn Programming with Robots" from Apress. Just google it, as I think there is a free version somewhere on the net. my thoughts on other languages mentioned: If you go the BASIC or C route the kids will just learn procedural programming an then have a hard time if they have to understand Objects. Assembly: It's really good to learn this (but you really have to want to). On modern machines It is very hard to accomplish anything to get and keep an 11 year old's attention. Python is also a good place to start along with a few libraries such as Pygame. It is a small and powerful language, and easily understood, with a good level of programmer interaction, so you can easily take code apart. Also it is universal (Win, Linux and Mac OS X). But overall I would recommend Squeak, as it is very usable out of the install (aka box) and grows with the user to become what they want. Just remember if you were a kid starting out programming what would you want? I think something simple to achieve results quickly, so as not to get disheartened, but powerful to grow with you as you learn. ATB