
Pencil code - xiaq
http://pencilcode.net/
======
AKrumbach
I couldn't really help myself ... whenever I see any sort of "turtle graphics"
engine, I have to re-write my favorite line-art program:

[http://doctorfractal.pencilcode.net/edit/mystery_one](http://doctorfractal.pencilcode.net/edit/mystery_one)

Sadly, that halts only a tiny way into the drawing when "speed Infinity" is
set, and even at "speed 1000" the turtle still seems to run pretty slow (at
least it finishes the whole drawing that way).

~~~
pokpokpok
To anyone who can't see output: adjust the "origin" by changing the first
jumpxy block to (-50,-50)

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kleer001
Thanks OP!

That is flipping sweet! Ahh man, takes me back to 1982 sitting in from of an
Apple II in 2nd grade fiddling with turtle. Shudders... Ugh, so old. Makes me
want to abandon using these new fangled 3D Animation FX softwares and make
some green lines and purple circles, drink some Ovaltine, eat some cookies and
have a nap.

Sorry, had all the nostalgia there.

This must be memory triggerings too, right?

~~~
0xdeadbeefbabe
Making glowing green lines and purple circles is harder than it used to be,
because that combination of hardware isn't popular[0]. It might not be that
hard to use an old monitor, but it was easier in 92.

[0]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7066657](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7066657)

~~~
kleer001
Ahaha, noice1, never thought to take it that far. Seems like there's most
probably a web page out there that will do glowing green terminal emulation of
some sort. Nothing's going to fit me in my old aquaman under-roos though, lol!

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azurelogic
At first glance, this looks like a modern implementation of Logo:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_%28programming_language%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_%28programming_language%29)

~~~
shultays
It even has a turtle

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xiaq
For anyone wondering about the similarity of the block editor (called Droplet)
with Blockly, Scatch, etc., the author of Pencil Code has a good paper on
Droplet and previous work: [http://ideas.pencilcode.net/home/htmlcss/droplet-
paper.pdf](http://ideas.pencilcode.net/home/htmlcss/droplet-paper.pdf)

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flipp3r
Is this made with Blockly (
[https://developers.google.com/blockly/](https://developers.google.com/blockly/)
) or a copy of it? There's already many sites using blockly to learn to code,
the example linked looks much like a copy of Google's Maze example
[https://blockly-games.appspot.com/maze?lang=en](https://blockly-
games.appspot.com/maze?lang=en)

~~~
xiaq
The block editor is Droplet:
[https://github.com/PencilCode/droplet](https://github.com/PencilCode/droplet).
The author of Pencil Code has a good paper which outlined the history of block
editors: [http://ideas.pencilcode.net/home/htmlcss/droplet-
paper.pdf](http://ideas.pencilcode.net/home/htmlcss/droplet-paper.pdf).

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paines
Maybe [https://scratch.mit.edu/](https://scratch.mit.edu/)

~~~
raimondious
We're hiring! [http://scratch.mit.edu/jobs/](http://scratch.mit.edu/jobs/)

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TazeTSchnitzel
> Learn professional programming languages using an editor that lets you work
> in either blocks or text.

I was hoping this would be a visual editor for existing mainstream languages
(Python, JS, PHP, C#, etc.). Sadly it isn't, but this makes me want to make
one.

~~~
xiaq
It is, for JavaScript and CoffeeScript. Additional adapters can also be
created. Read [http://ideas.pencilcode.net/home/htmlcss/droplet-
paper.pdf](http://ideas.pencilcode.net/home/htmlcss/droplet-paper.pdf) :)

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Oh I see! I hadn't noticed it was CoffeeScript.

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yagyu
I thought of [http://pencil-code.nordita.org](http://pencil-code.nordita.org)
(large scale academic finite-difference solver for magnetohydrodynamics,
applications for solar dynamics, supernovas etc)

(no affiliation, I just work in a related area)

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atentaten
Logo Writer and Turtle Graphics! Definitely brings back memories. This is
great for early beginners and children. This makes me wonder about what we
could create that's similar to this, but for more robust work for adults.

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Alupis
I like these types of projects. Easy to use and easy to get kids into basic
coding. Would be a great piece to use in schools for an upcoming "Day of
Code".

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morley
This is really cool.

One suggestion -- expand the function names! It took me a little bit to figure
out that "fd" was "forward" and "rt" was "right."

It doesn't seem like that much more time to type out "forward" than "fd" \--
especially if you're just clicking on function names -- and it'd go a long way
in making the code more approachable and readable.

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Dorian-Marie
Pretty awesome, you can write functions, use variables, etc... This is how I
always wanted Scratch to be, thanks.

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MarcScott
This looks amazing, and pretty sure I'll be using it with my students.

Would be nice if it supported Python, as that's our preferred language, but JS
will do.

~~~
xiaq
You will be happy to know that the author is interested in adding Python
support and has listed it as a potential GSoC project
([http://ideas.pencilcode.net/](http://ideas.pencilcode.net/)).

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aasarava
For those of you feeling nostalgia for Turtle Logo:
[http://turtleacademy.com/](http://turtleacademy.com/)

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leni536
I like writing fractals in logo.

[http://leni536.pencilcode.net/edit/koch](http://leni536.pencilcode.net/edit/koch)

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Sputum
[http://sputum.pencilcode.net/edit/first](http://sputum.pencilcode.net/edit/first)
:)

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mayli
Pencil code = Droplet + LOGO.

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vinceyuan
It's super good for beginners, especially for kids!

