[etoys-dev] learning algorithms and programming

[karl ramberg]

Both Scratch and Etoys are open source so it's just to pick what you want.
The model of Scratch and Etoys are quite different and it's a _huge_ job
joining them.
I'm not very familiar with Scratch source, but what I have seen is quite
good and simple code.
It's made in a rather old image so much has changed since then in both
Pharo, Etoys and Squeak.

I recommend you to make a few test projects and see what system fits your
needs best.

Karl


On Sat, Dec 24, 2011 at 1:39 AM, Ralph Boland <rpboland at gmail.com> wrote:

> I want to develop a system for teaching various algorithms
> that students learn starting from primary school all the way
> to high school and perhaps even into university.
> For this I need a core system and for each algorithm an
> application layer on top of the core needs to be written.
>
> The idea is the the student first solves the problem by
> hand, then implements low level components of the algorithm into
> procedures and then is able to solve the problem more quickly by
> invoking these procedures by hand.  Then these procedures can be
> combined into higher level procedures that the student can use to
> solve the problem even more quickly.  Eventually the the entire
> algorithm is implemented into a top level procedure that the student
> can invoke.
>
> Thus the student learns all the steps of the algorithm (since (s)he
> initially
> does them by hand but also combines them into procedures that can be called
> but the student also learns programming at a basic level.  It is
> noteworthy that once the student has partially implemented the algorithm
> (s)he is able to solve large instances of the problem by using the
> procedures
> already implemented.  For example, a student learning long division could
> compute  91935 / 45  more easily after implementing subtraction and
> multiplication of a number by a single digit.  The student could then do
> the
> division even faster by implementing a procedure that combines subtraction
> and
> multiplication of a number by a single digit.  And so on.
>
> Algorithms I am interested in implementing include  multiplication,
> long division,
> simplifying fractions. and simple linear algebra.
> I am also interested in Chemistry/Physics and university level algorithms.
> For example Gaussian elimination and the simplex method could be
> taught this way.
>
> OK so where does EToys fit in?
>
> Well, I don't want to implement this utility from scratch.  But
> EToys,  Scratch,
> and  BYOB/Snap all implement aspects of what I need already.  Scratch looks
> like a better fit than EToys and  BYOB/Snap looks even better (has
> procedures
> and recursion (recursion is useful for simplifying fractions for example)).
> Unfortunately for me,  Scratch is being ported to Flash and  Snap is
> being rewritten
> in Javascript but I very much want to continue working in Smalltalk.
> A version of Scratch has been ported to Pharo but the porters suggest
> that the best thing to do is rewrite Scratch from scratch since it is
> so poorly written.
>
> So my question is: Would it be better to use the core of EToys to
> build my system.
> For that matter, if I wanted to re-implement Scratch should I not use
> the core of
> EToys to base it on?  This probably means that EToys would need to be
> re-factored
> to some extent so that a core could be separated from the "EToys
> Application".
> In fact, I might need a Scratch/Snap core that goes on top of  EToys core.
> For that matter should not EToys and Scratch already have been written with
> a common core?
>
> For those of you familiar with the Enchanting project (which allows
> programming
> of the Legos Mindstorms robot using a version of Scratch)  I would
> also want to be
> able to base Enchanting on the core of EToys.  By the way Enchanting
> is an example
> of where a web based version of Scratch is not going to work so it
> looks like Enchanting
> developers will have to maintain their version of Scratch.
>
> So what should my plan be?
>
> Regards,
>
> Ralph Boland
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