Simple Programming

[somabc]

Do you long for the days of writing BASIC commands on your spectrum / calculator? Are you looking for a resource to introduce programming concepts to children?

 

Then take a look at Small Basic

 

Small Basic is a project that's aimed at bringing "fun" back to programming. By providing a small and easy to learn programming language in a friendly and inviting development environment, Small Basic makes programming a breeze. Ideal for kids and adults alike, Small Basic helps beginners take the first step into the wonderful world of programming.

 

* Small Basic derives its inspiration from the original BASIC programming language, and is based on the Microsoft .NET platform. It is really small with just 15 keywords and uses minimal concepts to keep the barrier to entry as low as possible.

 

* The Small Basic development environment is simple, yet provides powerful modern environment features like Intellisense™ and instant context sensitive help.

 

* Small Basic allows third-party libraries to be plugged in with ease, making it possible for the community to extend the experience in fun and interesting ways.

 

Small Basic

Introducing%20Small%20Basic.pdf

[JJonas]

CeeBot is quite good as well and as I recall not too expensive for a site license

 

CeeBot: Have fun programming

[tmcd35]

Just skimmed through the pdf. I have to admit, I can't see the point of this language. For a basic teaching tool Scratch | Home | imagine, program, share is a lot better IMHO. Beyond that you're probably in the realms of Pascal, VBA , Java, PHP+HTML as starting points. Java, C++, Assembler, etc if you're serious.

[AngryTechnician]

One of our ICT teachers has been teaching this to year 7 for a few weeks now, having previously had them on Scratch, and is finding it very useful. Yes, once you get serious you want to start looking at more commonly used languages, but for year 7 this introduces programming in a more 'codey' way than Scratch does but still with very little fuss. Some of the function libraries do some quite complex stuff (such as retrieving a photo from Flickr in real-time given specific search terms - a one-line call) that a beginner simply would not be able to do without a lot of guidance in another language.

 

It's a stepping stone, in essence. Going straight from Scratch to (for example) Pascal is a relatively big step if you want to be able to hold the students' attention span.

[TechMonkey]

I'll pass this on to our IT Teacher as he is using scratch but finding it too basic/limited for some kids. This might be just the job to move on to.

[somabc]

There is some more here -

 

Linux.com :: Open source programming languages for kids

 

and of course for when you get more serious there is python

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)

Edited February 11, 2009 by somabc

[tmcd35]

Sorry, but I can't shake the feeling that basic PHP/SQL/HTML or VBA manipulation of an Excel spreadsheet might be better starting points and just as easy for year 7's to pick up.

 

If you want to learn BASIC there is always the classic (tongue firmly in cheek) option...

 

The BBC lives! -- Emulators

[mac_shinobi]

I know its outdated but what about VB 6 ?

 

I remember using that at university and its got a bit more then VBA and allows them to create an interface and program the objects easily as its obviously event driven.

[somabc]

I know its outdated but what about VB 6 ?

 

I remember using that at university and its got a bit more then VBA and allows them to create an interface and program the objects easily as its obviously event driven.

 

Noooooooo, this is 2009, death to VB 6!

[localzuk]

Noooooooo, this is 2009, death to VB 6!

 

Agreed!!!