Raspberry Pi

[Jamie123]

This has got to be one of the coolest things ever in the entire history of cool stuff!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/public/zzLCSSDF5moUJe0cR7KyDbhLBNApjvKjSHCo5XTwbRjs32lsfBzEsUaaM7MjWyBvkV31SCgSr5ITVjB9Hik7FRz5b1WAEdMqygzEh3MREJLFDQXMsJkYGTxIOyACJEmtSGEuLnbvojyWDJCB2BBnHzdSt_R_RAWdXjs9OLTGtZjPEqpy-ilyGwqt=s220-c

As a kid I originally learned programming on an Atari 400, which (contrary to what some superior sneery-faced people insisted) was not "just a ******* games machine". I developed some quite complex code using the BASIC language. Admittedly this mostly had a games application - the Player Missile Graphics feature allowed you to create space ships which fired bullets at each other, and you had features to make engine sounds, explosions, scoring - it was great!

But kids these days don't program. I teach computing at a university, and a lot of kids - even "seniors" (though we don't call them that here) tell me they've "never done coding before" when I try to introduce them to JavaScript and PHP. It bugs me no end. By choosing the right courses you can get a Bachelor of Science degree in computing without doing ANY programming.

But with something so cool - and cheap - as the Raspberry Pi, how can any kid not be drawn into the wonderful world of programming. You can easily write Python programs and support for more languages is on the way. You can connect wirelessly to the Internet and use it like a PC. You can easily interface it with electronic projects of your own - make it control lights and motors - racing cars - whatever you want! What more could any kid desire? And you can get a complete starter kit for about £75! (Or cheaper if you can supply some of the bits yourself.)

I do hope more kids get back into programming. Their young minds pick things up so fast, and I hope this will help produce a powerful new generation of coders!

[Guest]

This has got to be one of the coolest things ever in the entire history of cool stuff!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/public/zzLCSSDF5moUJe0cR7KyDbhLBNApjvKjSHCo5XTwbRjs32lsfBzEsUaaM7MjWyBvkV31SCgSr5ITVjB9Hik7FRz5b1WAEdMqygzEh3MREJLFDQXMsJkYGTxIOyACJEmtSGEuLnbvojyWDJCB2BBnHzdSt_R_RAWdXjs9OLTGtZjPEqpy-ilyGwqt=s220-c

As a kid I originally learned programming on an Atari 400, which (contrary to what some superior sneery-faced people insisted) was not "just a ******* games machine". I developed some quite complex code using the BASIC language. Admittedly this mostly had a games application - the Player Missile Graphics feature allowed you to create space ships which fired bullets at each other, and you had features to make engine sounds, explosions, scoring - it was great!

But kids these days don't program. I teach computing at a university, and a lot of kids - even "seniors" (though we don't call them that here) tell me they've "never done coding before" when I try to introduce them to JavaScript and PHP. It bugs me no end. By choosing the right courses you can get a Bachelor of Science degree in computing without doing ANY programming.

But with something so cool - and cheap - as the Raspberry Pi, how can any kid not be drawn into the wonderful world of programming. You can easily write Python programs and support for more languages is on the way. You can connect wirelessly to the Internet and use it like a PC. You can easily interface it with electronic projects of your own - make it control lights and motors - racing cars - whatever you want! What more could any kid desire? And you can get a complete starter kit for about £75! (Or cheaper if you can supply some of the bits yourself.)

I do hope more kids get back into programming. Their young minds pick things up so fast, and I hope this will help produce a powerful new generation of coders!

Programming has changed dramatically since then. My kid, for example, is not a coder, but you should see him figure out how to install all those applets even cut-and-pasting code so he can build this and that thing on his computer. He learned how to do it on youtube. He's been doing it since he was 9. I call him the "cut and paste" programmer. He can build whiz-bang websites too without writing a single piece of code. And, once in a while - every 3 months seems like, his dad has to rebuild his computer after he hopelessly hosed it.

But then, he doesn't want to be a programmer when he grows up. He wants to be a lawyer... so, for a lawyer-wanna-be doing all that stuff on his computer, it's quite cool. And there are tons of kids doing the same thing as he does.... they're all showing other kids how to do it on youtube...

[Jamie123]

Programming has changed dramatically since then. My kid, for example, is not a coder, but you should see him figure out how to install all those applets even cut-and-pasting code so he can build this and that thing on his computer. He learned how to do it on youtube. He's been doing it since he was 9. I call him the "cut and paste" programmer. He can build whiz-bang websites too without writing a single piece of code. And, once in a while - every 3 months seems like, his dad has to rebuild his computer after he hopelessly hosed it.

But then, he doesn't want to be a programmer when he grows up. He wants to be a lawyer... so, for a lawyer-wanna-be doing all that stuff on his computer, it's quite cool. And there are tons of kids doing the same thing as he does.... they're all showing other kids how to do it on youtube...

Yeah there are exceptions. So that's where all the best potential coders go. They become lawyers...!

[Roseslipper]

This has got to be one of the coolest things ever in the entire history of cool stuff!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/public/zzLCSSDF5moUJe0cR7KyDbhLBNApjvKjSHCo5XTwbRjs32lsfBzEsUaaM7MjWyBvkV31SCgSr5ITVjB9Hik7FRz5b1WAEdMqygzEh3MREJLFDQXMsJkYGTxIOyACJEmtSGEuLnbvojyWDJCB2BBnHzdSt_R_RAWdXjs9OLTGtZjPEqpy-ilyGwqt=s220-c

As a kid I originally learned programming on an Atari 400, which (contrary to what some superior sneery-faced people insisted) was not "just a ******* games machine". I developed some quite complex code using the BASIC language. Admittedly this mostly had a games application - the Player Missile Graphics feature allowed you to create space ships which fired bullets at each other, and you had features to make engine sounds, explosions, scoring - it was great!

But kids these days don't program. I teach computing at a university, and a lot of kids - even "seniors" (though we don't call them that here) tell me they've "never done coding before" when I try to introduce them to JavaScript and PHP. It bugs me no end. By choosing the right courses you can get a Bachelor of Science degree in computing without doing ANY programming.

But with something so cool - and cheap - as the Raspberry Pi, how can any kid not be drawn into the wonderful world of programming. You can easily write Python programs and support for more languages is on the way. You can connect wirelessly to the Internet and use it like a PC. You can easily interface it with electronic projects of your own - make it control lights and motors - racing cars - whatever you want! What more could any kid desire? And you can get a complete starter kit for about £75! (Or cheaper if you can supply some of the bits yourself.)

I do hope more kids get back into programming. Their young minds pick things up so fast, and I hope this will help produce a powerful new generation of coders!

Hey is that a bottle of nail polish i see

[Anddenex]

Part of the problem with learning programming is in the way it is taught.

[Jamie123]

Part of the problem with learning programming is in the way it is taught.

Oh - so it's all *my* fault is it?

[Dravin]

By choosing the right courses you can get a Bachelor of Science degree in computing without doing ANY programming.

When I sit down and think about how broad computer science is as a field that doesn't surprise me. Prior sitting down and thinking about it though that probably would have made me do a double take to hear someone not take any programming to get a computer science degree.

[Anddenex]

Oh - so it's all *my* fault is it?

Exiting...stage left!

I was more directing my comments toward little children and programming. Learning terminology isn't very fun, and for some learners, doesn't help.

What would be cool is a program that teaches terminology while they are creating a "shark eating a fish." Instead of, this is a "class." This is a "loop." Teach them while building a program.

Imagine teaching children, this way. First day of lessons they play a simple program. Next day, they learn they will be making the program they just played. Once finished, they play another program, maybe similar to the typing programs I played in 7th and 8th grade. The next day, let's build this program.

I think more children would be interested in this type of learning. IMHO. :)

[Jamie123]

Exiting...stage left!

I was more directing my comments toward little children and programming. Learning terminology isn't very fun, and for some learners, doesn't help.

What would be cool is a program that teaches terminology while they are creating a "shark eating a fish." Instead of, this is a "class." This is a "loop." Teach them while building a program.

Imagine teaching children, this way. First day of lessons they play a simple program. Next day, they learn they will be making the program they just played. Once finished, they play another program, maybe similar to the typing programs I played in 7th and 8th grade. The next day, let's build this program.

I think more children would be interested in this type of learning. IMHO. :)

I agree relating it to real life situations is a good idea!

class car

{

steering_wheel;

engine;

wheels;

chassis;

drive(to,from);

clean();

fuel_up(gallons);

};

or for washing up

do

{

if (towel.damp())

{

towel=towel_rail.get_next_dry_towel();

}

plate=dish_drainer.pick_up_next_plate();

dry_plate(plate,towel);

cupboard.put_away(plate);

}

while (dish_drainer.more_plates());

Edited May 22, 2013 by Jamie123

[Jamie123]

Exiting...stage left!

I was more directing my comments toward little children and programming. Learning terminology isn't very fun, and for some learners, doesn't help.

What would be cool is a program that teaches terminology while they are creating a "shark eating a fish." Instead of, this is a "class." This is a "loop." Teach them while building a program.

Imagine teaching children, this way. First day of lessons they play a simple program. Next day, they learn they will be making the program they just played. Once finished, they play another program, maybe similar to the typing programs I played in 7th and 8th grade. The next day, let's build this program.

I think more children would be interested in this type of learning. IMHO. :)

I agree relating it to real life situations is a good idea!

class car

{

steering_wheel;

engine;

wheels;

chassis;

drive(to,from);

clean();

fuel_up(gallons);

};

or for washing up

do

{

if (towel.damp())

{

towel=towel_rail.get_next_dry_towel();

}

plate=dish_drainer.pick_up_next_plate();

dry_plate(plate,towel);

cupboard.put_away(plate);

}

while (dish_drainer.more_plates());

[Guest]

That's exactly how I learned!

I was 11 years old when I got thrown into a Summer BASIC programming class (on a Tandy TRS-80!). My brother was supposed to take the class for extra credits towards getting Valedictorian honor in High School. But, that same summer, he was offered CAT officers training (CAT is required course in High School in the Philippines) so he chose to take that training instead so he can start off as an officer when term starts. But my dad already paid for the programming class and it is non-refundable, so my dad told me - you're taking that class. I was spitting mad - I had no intentions of spending my summer in summer school. And I have no idea what a computer is - nor had any interest in it. But, I showed up anyway because my dad would have been swatting my butt (yeah, from that other thread. lol).

The first day of school, the instructor held up 3 games and asked us which one we want to play with! There was only 1 computer for all 10 students. So, we took turns playing a game. I played PacMan... I loved that game. At the end of the class, the instructor told us that for this entire summer, our goal is to make that game we just played. Man, I was hooked. I hated to leave the class and I couldn't wait to go back the next day. The next class (I can't remember but I think the classes were 4 hours long), the instructor told us what a computer is. LOL! At the end of the summer, I programmed 3 new levels to the PacMan game and I have not stopped programming since.

My dad refused to pay for more classes (they offered Advanced Classes after school) because he thinks it's just playing games... which, by the way, got banned in the Philippines. Yep. President Marcos banned video games in the Philippines because it increased school truancy. He also banned shows like Voltes V and Mazinger Z (Japanese robot animation shows). So, at age 12, I went to work manning the computer lab so I can pay for Advanced Classes. My first paid job was to replace daisy wheel printer ribbons... we were so poor in the Philippines that when the printer ribbon runs out, we would open the ribbon casing, dump out the old ribbon and replace it with typewriter ribbon. Now, the typewriter ribbon is not looped - it comes from one end and loops on a wheel in the other end. My job was to take that typewriter ribbon, snip the end wheels, put the ribbon ends together to form a closed loop, clip it with metal clip and take a candle to fuse the ends together, then wind the ribbon in the printer ribbon casing. I was so good at that job that had ZERO snags. I was 12, it was my first job, I was wanting to wow people with my amazing skills. LOL.

So anyway... I'm middle-aged now doing the same thing I've been doing since I was 11...

[Anddenex]

I agree relating it to real life situations is a good idea!

Yep, this way dumb people like me, who would love to learn programming, can actually learn it, and understand it better.

:)

[Jamie123]

Yep, this way dumb people like me, who would love to learn programming, can actually learn it, and understand it better.

:)

Me too - it seems strange to me now, but I never really learned object oriented programming until I was put in a position where I had to teach it. (I'm a physicist/engineer by original training, and I was moved sideways into computing when our school's electronics programs were axed back in the early 2000's.)

All through my student days and even as a postdoc I only ever used procedural language. I regarded object orientation as "something I'll look into when I have time". Luckily the course leader for Programming Essentials had prepared some fantastic lab exercises for the students, representing books (or CD's) as objects and libraries as containing objects - which of course leads nicely into the study of inheritance and polymorphism, all with something tangible to imagine.

Once I'd worked through these exercises myself I thought "Wow! I'd have saved myself SO much work if I'd known about this before!" Object orientation breaks down problems which would be horrendous in procedural code, since it mimics our real-life experiences much more closely.

Edited May 24, 2013 by Jamie123

[bytebear]

I cut my teeth on an Atari 800.

I've been through BASIC, Fortran, C, C++, Java, ASP and now have settled on PHP, the most flexible language for web based programming.

I now lead a team of a dozen developers making very complex large scale software which monitors commercial aircraft from the ground. Very high tech stuff.

But there's a lot to learn beyond just one language. if you want to make a website like this one you need to know:

HTML

CSS

SQL

JavaScript

PHP

For people who want to play with web programming, I recommend XAMPP, a tool that installs a web server, a database and sets up your space on your personal computer.

I am a HUGE Object programmer, and it's a skill that I think people need. Java requires it as do many modern languages, and it makes possible design patterns and paradigms that are impossible or very difficult otherwise.

I'm also working on a book on how to build a PHP object (class) library building off the patterns of Zend_Framework.

[Guest]

I cut my teeth on an Atari 800.

I've been through BASIC, Fortran, C, C++, Java, ASP and now have settled on PHP, the most flexible language for web based programming.

I now lead a team of a dozen developers making very complex large scale software which monitors commercial aircraft from the ground. Very high tech stuff.

But there's a lot to learn beyond just one language. if you want to make a website like this one you need to know:

HTML

CSS

SQL

JavaScript

PHP

For people who want to play with web programming, I recommend XAMPP, a tool that installs a web server, a database and sets up your space on your personal computer.

I am a HUGE Object programmer, and it's a skill that I think people need. Java requires it as do many modern languages, and it makes possible design patterns and paradigms that are impossible or very difficult otherwise.

I'm also working on a book on how to build a PHP object (class) library building off the patterns of Zend_Framework.

In my (literally) decades of experience, once you get computational thinking down pat, learning a language is pip-squeak. It's all just a matter of figuring out what environment structure you have and what syntax to use to get what you need done and in the world of google, you don't even have to take classes to figure it all out...

[bytebear]

In my (literally) decades of experience, once you get computational thinking down pat, learning a language is pip-squeak. It's all just a matter of figuring out what environment structure you have and what syntax to use to get what you need done and in the world of google, you don't even have to take classes to figure it all out...

True for the most part at least syntactically. it's more about knowing the quirks of the specific language. You can get the thing done, but an expert in the language would probably have a dozen improvements to recommend. And OOP is enough of a paradigm shift that I find that procedural programmers need to adjust their thinking. And then when you start talking in terms of design patterns, your thinking shifts from just functional to architectural, and you end up coming up with solutions that you never would have otherwise.

Edited May 25, 2013 by bytebear

[Vort]

The syntax of any computer language is trivial. "Knowing a language" really means knowing its basic libraries. You can learn Java in an afternoon, but it takes somewhat longer to become really conversant with the various library method calls you need.