

Ask: what is the best language/way to teach kids programming? - evo_9

I've been thinking about teaching my kids (7 &#38; 10 - both boys) how to program but I'm not sure where to start. Is there a 'kids' programming language and/or IDE that is ideal?  Also, what language? I was thinking of HTML + JavaScript and maybe structuring it around writing a simple game.<p>Just looking for feedback, or any practicle experience other HN Dads have had.
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jyiin
There's a programming language named Turing that was developed specifically as
a teaching language. Many students in Ontario were taught it in high school. I
always found the syntax clean and approachable.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_%28programming_language%...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_%28programming_language%29)

You can download a runtime here <http://compsci.ca/holtsoft/>

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evo_9
Thanks, I hadn't seen this before.

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Turing_Machine
There are some languages designed expressly for kids and learning.
<http://scratch.mit.edu> and <http://alice.org> come to mind. That said,
Javascript wouldn't be a bad choice. It doesn't have a compile step to go
through before you can see your results, and is great for sharing (put the
code on any web server and your kid's friends can see their creations).

I've toyed with the idea of a Javascript-based language for learning -- some
thoughts on that here: <http://contraterrene.com/blog/?p=136>

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codeonfire
A good way to ease into programming is to tweak something simple but
graphical, For instance:

[http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/bb203893%28v=xnagame...](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/bb203893%28v=xnagamestudio.10%29.aspx)

has lots of numbers and some very basic animation that can be tweaked. You
really have to grab their interest before going into writing something from
scratch or learning the basics.

Javascript is not as forgiving as a first development environment. I would use
VS/C#, Eclipse/Java, or Netbeans/Java because the static code analysis will
highlight mistakes.

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brudgers
The best way to teach your kids programming is in accord with their level of
interest in learning it.

In all honesty, if your kids are interested in learning programming, the
problem will more or less solve itself - i.e. it really won't matter what
tools you put in front of them - Alice, Kudo, Logo, javascricpt, TouchDevelop
or BASIC will all be a way for them to further their interests.

On the other hand, if your boys are typical ten and seven year olds, then
their interest in programming is likely to come in a few years - if ever.

Good luck.

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jwmollman
There's always Python. I hear a lot about how it's a good language for
beginning programmers. It has a very clean syntax, and in my opinion, is very
easy to read.

