BORT ha scritto: > All, > > The Forth-Python pull was heading to a conclusion just like "Tastes > Great" vs. "Less Filling" or Ford-Chevy. However, friendly folks at > comp.lang.forth pointed me to Amazon.com and _Mindstorms: Children, > Computers, and Powerful Ideas_ > by Seymour Papert. The book is by Logo's inventor and, according to > the reviews, addresses the larger goal I most want to achieve. <snip>
I thought you were limiting the choice to python/forth. Logo is a nice dialect of lisp, so I think you're making a good choice ;) But I'd consider Squeak. It is the best educational-but-not-only environment I've seen (which does not mean there are not better, but I've seen quite a bit of them) Squeak not only has programming at the hand but it also provide you with a complete educational system, with music, painting, animations etc. And there is nothing that could get a kid involved like making a rabbit explode. > I now want to read the book. Period. However, my kids both love Legos > which uses a Logo implementation for their robotics toys. I could > probably capture both the 10 yr old AND the 7 yr old if we can spring > for the $200 Lego Mindstorm set. Sort of blows away my specification > of "free," but... > > In my earlier browsing, I eliminated Logo early on, thinking we would > hit its capability ceiling too quickly and then backtrack in order to > make a transition to a "REAL" language. > > uh... I've been browsing on Logo tonight and, even without the Lego > robots, I may go that route. Shoot, I thought Logo was just moving > hokey sprites in increasingly complex patterns until I saw the book > list at: > > http://el.media.mit.edu/logo-foundation/products/books.html > > Hmm... When all is said and done, maybe the choice is kind of like > physical exercise. I can spend weeks choosing the most effective work > out and diet combination. But, until I cut back on biggie size grease > brugers with double shakes and get off of the couch every now and then, > the choice of workout is moot. In fact, one I use is better than the > "best" that I don't use. > > Gentle folk of comp.lang.python, I heartily thank you all for your > input. I think I'm taking the boys through the door marked "Logo." We > may be back this way, though. We will likely need MORE in the nebulous > future. I am impressed with the outpouring of support here! > > Thanks to all! > -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
