Gentlefolk:
I am entering the field of programming having no prior experience. I'm not a kid, age-wise, anyway. It seems every programming language I have encountered makes assumptions about my prior knowledge, (that I have some), and the teachers of these languages use strange and alien terminology to describe actions that I am already unfamiliar with. The teachers, (online tutorials), use terminology that is familiar to themselves to explain new concepts, but is unfamiliar and vague to me.
For these reasons I am looking toward using the EToys, children's software, as a means to obtain a total introduction to programming, in general, and to Squeak, specifically. Is this the self-education route I should take, or is there a better "adult" pathway for learning?
I actually wish that EToys was introduced and structured so that it specifically was aimed at teaching me to program rather than to teach me Mathematics and Science. But maybe it will do both.
Please let me know,
Greg Smith
Le Thursday 06 July 2006 18:34, Greg Smith a écrit :
Gentlefolk:
I am entering the field of programming having no prior experience. I'm not a kid, age-wise, anyway. It seems every programming language I have encountered makes assumptions about my prior knowledge, (that I have some), and the teachers of these languages use strange and alien terminology to describe actions that I am already unfamiliar with. The teachers, (online tutorials), use terminology that is familiar to themselves to explain new concepts, but is unfamiliar and vague to me.
For these reasons I am looking toward using the EToys, children's software, as a means to obtain a total introduction to programming, in general, and to Squeak, specifically. Is this the self-education route I should take, or is there a better "adult" pathway for learning?
as an alternative you could take a look at botsinc http://smallwiki.unibe.ch/botsinc
"... With Bots Inc you will learn how to program robots in an interactive environment. Bots Inc proposes three teaching approaches: direct command of robots, scripting robots and programming robots. ..."
alain
I actually wish that EToys was introduced and structured so that it specifically was aimed at teaching me to program rather than to teach me Mathematics and Science. But maybe it will do both.
Please let me know,
Greg Smith _______________________________________________ Beginners mailing list Beginners@lists.squeakfoundation.org http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/beginners
I would recommend: http://smallwiki.unibe.ch/botsinc/
It really isn't a book about "robots", but you control onscreen robots (turtle graphics) in lots of the examples.
I've seen the book in various Borders, but you can most easily get it online. Good intro to fundamental programming concepts. There isn't a lot of intro to computers curriculum for eToys. This book even has a chapter that introduces eToys (at the end). Sample chapters and downloads online. It has a chapter that introduces eToys
Greg Smith wrote:
Gentlefolk:
I am entering the field of programming having no prior experience. I'm not a kid, age-wise, anyway. It seems every programming language I have encountered makes assumptions about my prior knowledge, (that I have some), and the teachers of these languages use strange and alien terminology to describe actions that I am already unfamiliar with. The teachers, (online tutorials), use terminology that is familiar to themselves to explain new concepts, but is unfamiliar and vague to me.
For these reasons I am looking toward using the EToys, children's software, as a means to obtain a total introduction to programming, in general, and to Squeak, specifically. Is this the self-education route I should take, or is there a better "adult" pathway for learning?
I actually wish that EToys was introduced and structured so that it specifically was aimed at teaching me to program rather than to teach me Mathematics and Science. But maybe it will do both.
Please let me know,
Greg Smith _______________________________________________ Beginners mailing list Beginners@lists.squeakfoundation.org http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/beginners
Am 06.07.2006 um 18:34 schrieb Greg Smith:
I actually wish that EToys was introduced and structured so that it specifically was aimed at teaching me to program rather than to teach me Mathematics and Science. But maybe it will do both.
The focus of etoys indeed is math and science. It's more a simulation environment than a system to learn programming. That means it can do much more than a programming language, but at the same time many concepts of "programming" are not supported, or sometimes in an unusual way.
IMHO it's still a good start for anyone, but to specifically learn programming you will have to switch to "Smalltalk", the language in Squeak. There is a nice Book by Mark Guzdial about this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0130280283/ http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/~mark.guzdial/drafts/
- Bert -
On 7/6/06, Bert Freudenberg bert@impara.de wrote:
IMHO it's still a good start for anyone, but to specifically learn programming you will have to switch to "Smalltalk", the language in Squeak. There is a nice Book by Mark Guzdial about this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0130280283/ http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/~mark.guzdial/drafts/
- Bert -
Unfortunately Mark's draft pages are completely 404 now but you can read them here: http://www.iam.unibe.ch/~ducasse/FreeBooks/GuzdialBookDrafts/
I personally like to browse a book before I purchase it and having the ability to appreciate Mark's book online greatly influences my decision to purchase (in the positive in this case).
I also think I will likely get a copy of Stephen's book, since Apress has at least some sample chapters to read.
I am currently working on a curriculum set for homeschooled and classically educated children grades 3-12. (as well as science and technology curriculum in general for this age range).
Best Regards, Jon
beginners@lists.squeakfoundation.org
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Alain Plantec -
Bert Freudenberg -
David Mitchell -
Greg Smith -
Jon R. Fox -
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