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Teaching programming...

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  • C Offline
    C Offline
    charlieg
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    A bit of a quandary here... This is not your preschooler who wants to program, it's a junior in HS who has been busy in LUA for a while. I'm his hard-a$$ dad who doesn't want to elephant this up. Ideas for first project? He's playing with the idea of robotics, but I'm thinking guide him to another scripting language (no idea what) to get his feet wet? java is not in the equation.....

    Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

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    • C charlieg

      A bit of a quandary here... This is not your preschooler who wants to program, it's a junior in HS who has been busy in LUA for a while. I'm his hard-a$$ dad who doesn't want to elephant this up. Ideas for first project? He's playing with the idea of robotics, but I'm thinking guide him to another scripting language (no idea what) to get his feet wet? java is not in the equation.....

      Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

      P Offline
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      PIEBALDconsult
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      It has to be something he wants. My kid is starting to use a little Java for Minecraft mods.

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      • C charlieg

        A bit of a quandary here... This is not your preschooler who wants to program, it's a junior in HS who has been busy in LUA for a while. I'm his hard-a$$ dad who doesn't want to elephant this up. Ideas for first project? He's playing with the idea of robotics, but I'm thinking guide him to another scripting language (no idea what) to get his feet wet? java is not in the equation.....

        Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

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        Mike Hankey
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        Get him one of the new Raspberry Pi 2's and start him off with either Python or C/C++. Has a large following, lots of hardware to chose from and they're fun.

        New version: WinHeist Version
        When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page. Unknown

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        • C charlieg

          A bit of a quandary here... This is not your preschooler who wants to program, it's a junior in HS who has been busy in LUA for a while. I'm his hard-a$$ dad who doesn't want to elephant this up. Ideas for first project? He's playing with the idea of robotics, but I'm thinking guide him to another scripting language (no idea what) to get his feet wet? java is not in the equation.....

          Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

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          Garth J Lancaster
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          I agree with Mike Hankey's suggestion - I'm working 'in the field' - and foresee a large need for people who understand these boards, and people who can use them - wether that's Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Intel Edison.... The advantage of any of them is you can get things happening 'right now' - so much like your first 'hello world' in whatever language, you can get LEDs to blink and get a result quickly. Sparkfun (& others) sell starter kits, then all you need is a computer (Windows, Mac), the Arduino (for example) IDE and you're off - its only 'upwards' from there Your son's world of the future will all be about interacting with it - its a good start - then he can go to c# on the Raspberry Pi

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          • M Mike Hankey

            Get him one of the new Raspberry Pi 2's and start him off with either Python or C/C++. Has a large following, lots of hardware to chose from and they're fun.

            New version: WinHeist Version
            When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page. Unknown

            G Offline
            G Offline
            Garth J Lancaster
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            agree - and you can even do C# on some of these beasties :-)

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            • C charlieg

              A bit of a quandary here... This is not your preschooler who wants to program, it's a junior in HS who has been busy in LUA for a while. I'm his hard-a$$ dad who doesn't want to elephant this up. Ideas for first project? He's playing with the idea of robotics, but I'm thinking guide him to another scripting language (no idea what) to get his feet wet? java is not in the equation.....

              Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

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              C Offline
              charlieg
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              great ideas! Time to go shopping. Confession - terribly interested in these myself. What could go wrong? My credit, his curiosity? :laugh:

              Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

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              • G Garth J Lancaster

                agree - and you can even do C# on some of these beasties :-)

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                Mike Hankey
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                Supposedly you can put Windows 10 on the new Pi, I haven't tried it yet, you have to have Windows 10 on the PC and I believe VS2015, I have W10 on a VM but haven't installed VS2015 yet. Got to many other irons in the fire right now. I've been converting some of my Arduino Uno/ATMega code to run on the Pi 2 using Python. Just learning Python, know a little Linux and learning a lot about the Pi since getting it a few days ago. I was lucky traded my neighbor some electronic hardware for the Pi...sweet!

                New version: WinHeist Version
                When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page. Unknown

                1 Reply Last reply
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                • C charlieg

                  A bit of a quandary here... This is not your preschooler who wants to program, it's a junior in HS who has been busy in LUA for a while. I'm his hard-a$$ dad who doesn't want to elephant this up. Ideas for first project? He's playing with the idea of robotics, but I'm thinking guide him to another scripting language (no idea what) to get his feet wet? java is not in the equation.....

                  Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                  A Offline
                  A Offline
                  Amarnath S
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  Games with Python from one of the books available here: www.inventwithpython.com (Sorry, for some reason, hyperlink doesn't seem to work in the Lounge).

                  1 Reply Last reply
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                  • C charlieg

                    A bit of a quandary here... This is not your preschooler who wants to program, it's a junior in HS who has been busy in LUA for a while. I'm his hard-a$$ dad who doesn't want to elephant this up. Ideas for first project? He's playing with the idea of robotics, but I'm thinking guide him to another scripting language (no idea what) to get his feet wet? java is not in the equation.....

                    Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                    L Offline
                    L Offline
                    Lost User
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    I"d grab Unity and teach him c# and build a 3d game as a project.

                    PooperPig - Coming Soon

                    N 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • M Mike Hankey

                      Get him one of the new Raspberry Pi 2's and start him off with either Python or C/C++. Has a large following, lots of hardware to chose from and they're fun.

                      New version: WinHeist Version
                      When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page. Unknown

                      D Offline
                      D Offline
                      Dominic Burford
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      Gets my vote :-D

                      "There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare Home | LinkedIn | Google+ | Twitter

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                      • L Lost User

                        I"d grab Unity and teach him c# and build a 3d game as a project.

                        PooperPig - Coming Soon

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                        N Offline
                        Nicholas Marty
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        Or go for Unreal Engine. They have a graphical scripting engine. For understanding how a program works I think its pretty cool.

                        1 Reply Last reply
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                        • C charlieg

                          A bit of a quandary here... This is not your preschooler who wants to program, it's a junior in HS who has been busy in LUA for a while. I'm his hard-a$$ dad who doesn't want to elephant this up. Ideas for first project? He's playing with the idea of robotics, but I'm thinking guide him to another scripting language (no idea what) to get his feet wet? java is not in the equation.....

                          Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                          L Offline
                          L Offline
                          Lost User
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          charlieg wrote:

                          He's playing with the idea of robotics

                          Someone else mentioned the Arduino - I'd second that as they do a starter kit[^] with a breadboard, bags of electronic components, wires, a motor, a few sensors, etc. The manual is pretty good too with quite a few projects to help get things up and running.

                          How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.

                          T R C 4 Replies Last reply
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                          • P PIEBALDconsult

                            It has to be something he wants. My kid is starting to use a little Java for Minecraft mods.

                            W Offline
                            W Offline
                            Walter Bates
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            I completely agree with this. Starting with something he's interested in will be key for holding his interest. My suggestion is Lego Mindstorms. What kid doesn't like building with Legos, and these are Legos you can program with. Yes, it'll be in Java, but he's not going to know the difference between it or any other language to start with.

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                            • W Walter Bates

                              I completely agree with this. Starting with something he's interested in will be key for holding his interest. My suggestion is Lego Mindstorms. What kid doesn't like building with Legos, and these are Legos you can program with. Yes, it'll be in Java, but he's not going to know the difference between it or any other language to start with.

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                              D Offline
                              David Crow
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              Walter Bates wrote:

                              My suggestion is Lego Mindstorms...Yes, it'll be in Java...

                              The last time I played with EV3, there was no language involved, only building blocks.

                              "One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson

                              "Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons

                              "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles

                              1 Reply Last reply
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                              • L Lost User

                                charlieg wrote:

                                He's playing with the idea of robotics

                                Someone else mentioned the Arduino - I'd second that as they do a starter kit[^] with a breadboard, bags of electronic components, wires, a motor, a few sensors, etc. The manual is pretty good too with quite a few projects to help get things up and running.

                                How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.

                                T Offline
                                T Offline
                                Tui Alexandre
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #15

                                I wish I had one of those when I started programming :)

                                1 Reply Last reply
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                                • C charlieg

                                  A bit of a quandary here... This is not your preschooler who wants to program, it's a junior in HS who has been busy in LUA for a while. I'm his hard-a$$ dad who doesn't want to elephant this up. Ideas for first project? He's playing with the idea of robotics, but I'm thinking guide him to another scripting language (no idea what) to get his feet wet? java is not in the equation.....

                                  Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                                  R Offline
                                  R Offline
                                  RJOberg
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #16

                                  Advice I got from my former boss at a medical research facility? Go into robotics and AI. There will be no shortage of jobs that both pay well and challenge you to continue to learn and grow. If he has any interest in it, give him the means to explore, learn, and most importantly enjoy it. For the love of your deity of choice do not be like my dad. He gave the impression that it doesn't matter if you are happy with your job or not. It is your job and you should do it because that is what defines who you are as a person.

                                  C 1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • L Lost User

                                    charlieg wrote:

                                    He's playing with the idea of robotics

                                    Someone else mentioned the Arduino - I'd second that as they do a starter kit[^] with a breadboard, bags of electronic components, wires, a motor, a few sensors, etc. The manual is pretty good too with quite a few projects to help get things up and running.

                                    How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.

                                    R Offline
                                    R Offline
                                    RJOberg
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #17

                                    Heads up, your link is missing the 'it' from the end. And I am going to be picking one of those up for some projects I want to do around the house. My wife is going to kill me. :-\ https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoStarterKit[^]

                                    L 1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • C charlieg

                                      A bit of a quandary here... This is not your preschooler who wants to program, it's a junior in HS who has been busy in LUA for a while. I'm his hard-a$$ dad who doesn't want to elephant this up. Ideas for first project? He's playing with the idea of robotics, but I'm thinking guide him to another scripting language (no idea what) to get his feet wet? java is not in the equation.....

                                      Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                                      H Offline
                                      H Offline
                                      Hooga Booga
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #18

                                      I would have killed for one of these as a high schooler.

                                      Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • R RJOberg

                                        Advice I got from my former boss at a medical research facility? Go into robotics and AI. There will be no shortage of jobs that both pay well and challenge you to continue to learn and grow. If he has any interest in it, give him the means to explore, learn, and most importantly enjoy it. For the love of your deity of choice do not be like my dad. He gave the impression that it doesn't matter if you are happy with your job or not. It is your job and you should do it because that is what defines who you are as a person.

                                        C Offline
                                        C Offline
                                        charlieg
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #19

                                        lol - "diety of choice" - cleaning laptop screen now. Yes, there are jobs that pay $$ which you hate and jobs that don't pay that you love... then there are those jobs that pay $$ and you love (like mine).

                                        Charlie Gilley Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • R RJOberg

                                          Heads up, your link is missing the 'it' from the end. And I am going to be picking one of those up for some projects I want to do around the house. My wife is going to kill me. :-\ https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoStarterKit[^]

                                          L Offline
                                          L Offline
                                          Lost User
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #20

                                          Cheers, I just fixed it :) I bought one for my kid to get started with. It's a great mix of electronics and programming, I'm hoping to have a play around with it myself when I get time :)

                                          How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.

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