On Mon, 2007-02-12 at 12:22 -0700, Daniel C. wrote: > On 2/12/07, Alex Esplin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > So I think the main problem is that today's major operating system > > choices ... keep the user too far away from the guts > > Exactly. You can't just pop open an editor and write a program anyone > can use the same way they're used to using programs. (By > double-clicking an icon.) At least not without writing the code to > create all of the windows, control how they're handled, etc. It's a > pain. > > I should really look more into Squeak to see if it makes doing this easy or > not.
Hence someone wrote an interpreted environment in response to the original article, "Why Johnny Can't Code." http://kidbasic.sourceforge.net/ This is close to what I had when I was young with the bare IBM PC (CGA Graphics!) or the Apple II. Of course we have Logo too, which is also still quite accessible, albeit not as generic. I think it would be possible to take a modern language like python and wrap it up in a similar way as BASIC256. Of course I can also try setting up a C64 too. In fact I just had a professor tell me he's considering that after reading the article I posted. Of course, maybe a C64 emulator would be enough. Seems like programming languages have come full circle. They started out in the edit/make/compile stage, then went to fully intrepreted, then back to the edit/make/compile stage. (well sort of.) In a way languages have become so abstract as to not be accessible anymore. I realized the other day that my beautiful python code that's self-documenting ( :-) would be quite difficult for non-python programmers to get a handle on because it is so abstract and employs pythonic things like metaprogramming on a regular basis. Michael > > Dan > > /* > PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net > Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug > Don't fear the penguin. > */ > /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
