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what program should I buy my son?
- Thread starter muz
- Start date
Why not start with Python or PHP or Perl?
They can all be operated in a loosely typed mode, hence avoiding alot of frustrations... plus they're all full blown programming languages. Depending on personal preference Python or PHP have more intuitive syntaxes than Perl...
The only reason I'd suggest something like VB or C# is it would be easier for him to start making windowed programs, but eh, who cares...
If you can set PHP up for him, he can start doing programming and dumping it to a Web Browser, which he might also enjoy.
Then again, there's still Logo!
-Rob
They can all be operated in a loosely typed mode, hence avoiding alot of frustrations... plus they're all full blown programming languages. Depending on personal preference Python or PHP have more intuitive syntaxes than Perl...
The only reason I'd suggest something like VB or C# is it would be easier for him to start making windowed programs, but eh, who cares...
If you can set PHP up for him, he can start doing programming and dumping it to a Web Browser, which he might also enjoy.
Then again, there's still Logo!
-Rob
Just thought of another free programming language:
What about HTML/web pages with JavaScript.
The Java runtime itself is free from so that is another option if money is an issue.
John
What about HTML/web pages with JavaScript.
The Java runtime itself is free from so that is another option if money is an issue.
John
psemianonymous
Programmer
A C/C++ book, and buy MSVC6 or C++.NET (I think they call it MSVC 7.0?). You can get a deal on an academic edition. The book you choose is important, and no, I don't have any recommendations for C/C++ books.
After he has a book, and has gotten to where he has a working knowledge of the language (this will take a while), set up the source code for an existing mod for his favorite computer game.
Every popular game has a mod community--every shooter based on the Quake engine, every shooter based on the Unreal engine, and even small, unpopular games with limited followings have mods. Game mods only modify a portion of the source code, allowing him to modify things like gun fire rates, or jump velocity, or the addition of bullet ricochets, without drowning him in a sea of code. He can do simple things, and, as his ability allows, more and more complex modifications. He may never complete anything of note, but will definitely learn a great deal. And, as a bonus, he will probably learn good programming practices, something that can't be said about all languages.
I don't recommend Visual Basic as a starter language, because it encourages bad practices. The same for Perl, but because it does not have data types. They're both useful programming languages, but I don't recommend them as a learning tool for programming in general.
After he has a book, and has gotten to where he has a working knowledge of the language (this will take a while), set up the source code for an existing mod for his favorite computer game.
Every popular game has a mod community--every shooter based on the Quake engine, every shooter based on the Unreal engine, and even small, unpopular games with limited followings have mods. Game mods only modify a portion of the source code, allowing him to modify things like gun fire rates, or jump velocity, or the addition of bullet ricochets, without drowning him in a sea of code. He can do simple things, and, as his ability allows, more and more complex modifications. He may never complete anything of note, but will definitely learn a great deal. And, as a bonus, he will probably learn good programming practices, something that can't be said about all languages.
I don't recommend Visual Basic as a starter language, because it encourages bad practices. The same for Perl, but because it does not have data types. They're both useful programming languages, but I don't recommend them as a learning tool for programming in general.
muz,
You said that you "want to see if he will be interested in programming", and you said you want to "give him something that will be challenging and rewarding", but you didn't mention his age. I'll assume from the "challenging and rewarding" remark that he's above average.
What you start him off with could make a huge difference. Java, C, C++ are hard languages to learn (compared to some of the others), and may be too much for a young kid. Visual Basic is farily easy, but even that may be too much for a young kid.
If I was trying to see if my son or daughter was interested in programming, I would buy a .com URL, and pay for a site to host it. I would let them put whatever they want on the site (within reason). I would help them as much as posible at first, then step out of the way. If they're interested, they'll let you know. You won't need to ask.
If he's spending more time reading the tutorials on the web than he is playing Xbox, then he's interested.
Steve
You said that you "want to see if he will be interested in programming", and you said you want to "give him something that will be challenging and rewarding", but you didn't mention his age. I'll assume from the "challenging and rewarding" remark that he's above average.
What you start him off with could make a huge difference. Java, C, C++ are hard languages to learn (compared to some of the others), and may be too much for a young kid. Visual Basic is farily easy, but even that may be too much for a young kid.
If I was trying to see if my son or daughter was interested in programming, I would buy a .com URL, and pay for a site to host it. I would let them put whatever they want on the site (within reason). I would help them as much as posible at first, then step out of the way. If they're interested, they'll let you know. You won't need to ask.
If he's spending more time reading the tutorials on the web than he is playing Xbox, then he's interested.
Steve
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