https://kindofidea.com/tags/children/ Recent content in Children on Kind of Idea Hugo en-US Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000 https://kindofidea.com/scratch-the-simplest-programming-language-i-ve-ever-seen/ Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000 https://kindofidea.com/scratch-the-simplest-programming-language-i-ve-ever-seen/ <img src='http://valeriofarias.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/scratchboneco.jpg' alt='Scratch character' /> <p>I have to admit that the last time I was this impressed by software was when Google Earth launched. :-P</p> <p>For a while now, I have been looking for a way to teach programming to children or to people who have never programmed before. I recently wrote a <a href="http://valeriofarias.wordpress.com/2007/08/23/primeira-linguagem-de-programacao/">post presenting Ruby</a> as a strong candidate because of its simplicity, and even suggested it as a possibility for university courses. But it is still complex, because programming requires understanding several concepts: variables, constants, loops, branches, and others. Beginners also generally have trouble with typing code.</p>