Programming language for children

[Kent Borg]

Knapp wrote:
> I would say python with panda3d. Why? Because python can be used in a
> very basic way with panda3d and do some really cool and fun stuff. You
> can get models from the internet that are premade or make them with
> Blender3d.

Another vote for Python.  It is high-level yet it is "real": actual
programs in the real world are written in Python.  C++ is a bad idea. 
Pascal or Squeak is getting obscure.  That said, there is nothing wrong
for an interested kid to learn more than one language, but start with
something that gives a lot of payback on initial investment.

Panda3d!  I didn't know about that.  I am going to look at that myself. 
It looks really cool.

IDEs: Nothing wrong with an integrated development environment per se,
but I would worry about using Eclipse unless you have someone who both
knows how to make Eclipse work and is available to answer questions and
get the new user out of the mud.  For a newbie Eclipse
is disappointingly difficult.

The Python command line (or slightly fancier ipython) plus an editor is
simple, and not too impoverished.  It puts the language front and
center.  Computers are so flashy these days, the programming language
might otherwise get lost on the confusion.


-kb