Re: Programming?

[Jamie McCarthy <jamie@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As long as we're bringing up crackpot, out-of-date [*] languages like
LOGO and APL, I'll mention one of my favorites.  This one's still a
good bet for children to learn how to code.

HyperCard, which was distributed free on the Macintosh for a while in
the late 1980s and early 1990s, has a scripting language called
HyperTalk which is really excellent.  It's very natural-language,
moreso than BASIC.  It doesn't do data structures or objects and was
one of the first popular languages to have a freeform data storage
format where the computer decides int vs. float vs. string (actually,
Perl is the only other one that comes to mind).  It allows easy tying
of code to visible objects (and invisible ones) and comes with a paint
program to literally draw your own user interface.  All in all a good
way for beginners to get used to "telling the computer to do something"
which is after all what programming is all about.

Macintoshes from that era go for under $50 on ebay;  look hard and you
might find one that includes HyperCard on the hard drive...

[*] Note clever attempt to re-kindle flamewar!
--
        Jamie McCarthy
        jamie@mccarthy.org
 http://jamie.mccarthy.org/