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How To Teach a 12-Year-Old To Program?
thelordx writes "I've got a much younger brother who I'd like to teach how to program. When I was younger, you'd often start off with something like BASIC or Apple BASIC, maybe move on to Pascal, and eventually get to C and Java. Is something like Pascal still a dominant teaching language? I'd love to get low-level with him, and I firmly believe that C is the best language to eventually learn, but I'm not sure how to get him there. Can anyone recommend a language I can start to teach him that is simple enough to learn quickly, but powerful enough to do interesting things and lead him down a path towards C/C++?"
Python is multiplatform and is free. There are quite a few free tools and libraries available. It is a 'real' language that is at the same time suitable for youngsters to learn on. With the huge Python ecosystem that exists you can have them cranking out code in a text editor, an interpreter or a full blown IDE. (A wide number of them in fact). Python also makes for a nice bridge to C as it pretty easy to integrate the two. If you feel competent, you could probably just hit the Python docs and work your way through them. If you'd like a little help and have material already prepared for teaching younger people how to program with Python, there are resources out there.
I recommend Hello World! which uses Python. (You can read my full review of it here.)
If you don't want to buy a book, then you may want to look at Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python 2nd ed. I haven't read it myself yet, and a quick glance showed it to have some rough edges, but one can't be too picky at that price. It is available to download or read online.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Python is a very good suggestion. Be sure to check out the turtle module (included in the Python standard library), it's quite nice and inspired by Logo.
Also, Python 3.1 is slightly simpler and easier to understand for a beginner that the old Python 2.x.
There's a hidden treasure in Python 3.x: __prepare__()
It's less important the content (how to program, which language) than the motivation, having the student want to learn it. When a youngster wants to learn something, they will learn more than you ever could have taught them. It's too easy for experts to not be teachers and lose the youngsters early.
If the kid wants to learn and you have the time and patience, you can never fail, one-on-one.
I agree strongly with you step-by-step approach to reaching your destination.
OK a new size TV
I am sure someone has already posted it by now, but this about this.
What is the goal of programming?
To learn about objects, methods, functions, variables, loops, arrays, program flow, statefulness, events, design, and concurrency (threads).
You can do all of this in Alice from CMU. http://alice.org/
Alice starts out as fun which is a great hook and quickly changes to a programming environment as you want to build more complex worlds. Once students understand all the abstract concepts of programming then you can spring C, C++, Java, or whatever. Alice is nice because you only have to learn one level of the abstraction at a time and not wrestle with programming syntax. Having to deal with two abstractions (syntax + programming concepts) will lead to disinterest because it is HARD, even for people who like it.
I also recommend getting a Lego Mindstorms NXT. You can run nearly any language on it.
Game programming with Blitz Max was the way we went. There is actually a book called Game Programming for Teens that gives you some lesson structure.
BlitzMax also has a C++ SDK, so you can graduate to that at some point. But as a recovering C++ developer myself I can't understand why you'd want to do the poor kid that.
Most kids like to write some kind of game as their first program. It's immediate enjoyment, and something they'd like to play with when it's done.
So a good start for learning programming might be GNU Robots. In it, you write a program for a little robot, then send it out to explore a world on its own. The robot has to run autonomously, using the program that you gave it to navigate obstacles, avoid (or destroy) enemies, pick up energy tablets, and collect rewards. And you get to watch the robot do its thing, so when it's done you can immediately update your program and try to improve it.
GNU Robot programs are written in Scheme, which should be fairly easy to learn.
(Disclaimer: I'm the original author of GNU Robots, although I turned it over to someone else after I released version 1.0D in 2000.)