[Chicago] python intro for 13 yo -- suggestions?

[Brian Sobolak]

Michael Tobis wrote:
> Well if you have opinions about this be sure to show up on Thursday,
> because this is the sort of thing I'll be talking about. I'm hoping
> more to start up a conversation than to show off.
>
> Specifically: what's the right architecture for an interactive
> teaching tool? Does it involve the browser? Does it involve multiple
> languages? Which ones? (I'd prefer 100% Python if it's practical, but
> maybe it isn't.)

Possibly relevant to this discussion:  Python arose from the ashes of ABC,
which was, according to Guido, a language used to teach programming to
non-programmers.

>From c. 1996:

"It all started with ABC, a wonderful teaching language that I had helped
create in the early eighties. It was an incredibly elegant and powerful
language, aimed at non-professional programmers."

<http://www.python.org/doc/essays/foreword/>

Obviously the days of Guido working in Amsterdam are long past, but I
thought it interesting that the original "itch" he tried to scratch was
education, not a better awk or writing a portable operating system in New
Jersey.

If only Hypercards ran in a browser...

brian

--
Brian Sobolak
http://www.planetshwoop.com/