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Google Releases Raspberry Pi Web Dev Teaching Tool
judgecorp writes "Google has released 'Coder,' described as a simple way to make web stuff on Raspberry Pi. The idea is to make the Pi into a simple web server and web development environment on which kids can learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript. They provide an image for the Raspberry Pi, and they've open-sourced Coder as well. 'We thought about all the stuff we could do to make Coder a more complete package, but we have a hunch that the sooner this gets into the open source and maker communities, the more we’ll learn about how it might be used. Hopefully, a few more folks will pitch in and help us make this even more accessible and helpful for new coders.'"
I'm very likely over-reading this, but my first reaction when seeing this was: don't learn to use Python and code your own stuff. Learn to use JS and code for the Google platform instead. Learn to become a tenant farmer.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
Why not teach them Perl and make 'em Cubs fans too, as long as you're about to fuck 'em up for life?
We're going to wind up with a generation of script kiddies who cannot function without a IDE and GUI.
I think the onion tied to your belt is starting to get moldy there.
How many people today can function without a compiler?
How many welders can function without a foundry to produce the iron for them?
How many people can function without farms to grow their food for them.
How many farms these days can function without computers and iron tools?
It's called civilisation, we build on top of the work of others and do ever greater things. If everyone in all of life had to know how to do everything we wouldn;t get very much done.
"The weirdest thing about a mind, is that every answer that you find, is the basis of a brand new cliche" -
if you don't code in assembly, you're dumb and lazy
This is pretty awesome. One of the barriers of learning to code is getting passed the server setup. I remember fiddling with a mandrake installation for days before getting it to actually give me a properly parsed perl page. This should help kids get into it. And for those of you everyone-should-code-webpages-in-vi(m) people, kids who find it interesting, will dig deeper. All of my initial *unix skills came from wanting to do more with a webpage (e.g. how do I install a perl library), but having a functional web / database is what got me started.
neorush
sudo apt-get install apache2 mysql-server php5 php5-mysql
This just means my skills will become more valuable. Besides, you can use an IDE to build an IDE, just like you use compilers to build compilers.
AJ Henderson
Surely for the the issue isn't assembly vs everything else it's demonstrating the ability to use a range of language philosophies, There are lots of languages under the sun and certainly I'd be worried about someone who always had garbage collection at their beck and call if I was trying to implement any system with real time requirements or involved lots of heavy lifting of data. However isn't there a worry someone can get too stuck in the nuts and bots. I've seen so many examples of code where someone has done something in hundreds of lines of C for something that would take 5 lines of perl, (and before you say the implementation they used would make the C slower)
So if a CV turned up for someone who had no assembly experience but had experience in C, Perl, Ruby, Occam, Lisp. I'm fairly sure if they would have a grasp of the fundamentals, much more than someone who just had x86 assembler and C++.
"The weirdest thing about a mind, is that every answer that you find, is the basis of a brand new cliche" -
Raspberry Pi is much cheaper than a PC or Apple.
We're talking about lots of kids in classrooms.
This is for kids in classrooms.
The rest of you old geezers should stick with your legacy systems.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Assembly is a crutch for people who are too weak-minded to remember opcode values and numeric addresses.
And I'll bet you've never implemented a single instruction in microcode.
Most kids are going to have access to a normal computer anyway, which would include a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. They can use ssh access or some kind of remote desktop to control their RasPi. No extra support hardware required, apart from a power supply, a sd card (they're dirt cheap) and a UTP cable to connect it to a switch/router. Your 'well past $200' estimate is completely ridiculous.
Keyboard, mouse, monitor, power supply, SD Card for OS, USB stick for writable partitions because the SD card support is asstastically slow, Wifi adapter, time for someone to image the SD card for it, trouble because the RaspberryPi is poorly engineered power hog that can hardly sustain its own circuits, and don't forget, you still need a case.
I recently purchased a RaspberryPi. Everything together it came out to under $100 ($42 for the pi + $25 for keyboard/mouse + $9 for SD card + $10 for WiFi USB adapter), not counting the monitor (I hook it up to my TV, as it has an HDMI port). You just need some 5V 2.1A power source; I just use an old phone charger I had. I recently moved, so I didn't have a spare keyboard or SD card. For most people, odds are they already have this stuff laying around. Also, no need for a case. The SD card imaging is very simple, they provide the documentation and requisite files. You greatly overstate the cost and difficulty of using a RaspberryPi. Do you have an axe to grind or something?