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Will EToys Teach Me to Program in Squeak?

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GregSmith

Will EToys Teach Me to Program in Squeak?

Gentlefolk:

I am entering the field of programming having no prior experience.
I'm not a kid, age-wise, anyway. It seems every programming language
I have encountered makes assumptions about my prior knowledge, (that
I have some), and the teachers of these languages use strange and
alien terminology to describe actions that I am already unfamiliar
with. The teachers, (online tutorials), use terminology that is
familiar to themselves to explain new concepts, but is unfamiliar and
vague to me.

For these reasons I am looking toward using the EToys, children's
software, as a means to obtain a total introduction to programming,
in general, and to Squeak, specifically. Is this the self-education
route I should take, or is there a better "adult" pathway for learning?

I actually wish that EToys was introduced and structured so that it
specifically was aimed at teaching me to program rather than to teach
me Mathematics and Science. But maybe it will do both.

Please let me know,

Greg Smith
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Alain Plantec

Re: Will EToys Teach Me to Program in Squeak?

Le Thursday 06 July 2006 18:34, Greg Smith a écrit :

as an alternative you could take a look at botsinc
http://smallwiki.unibe.ch/botsinc

"... With Bots Inc you will learn how to program robots in an interactive
environment. Bots Inc proposes three teaching approaches: direct command of
robots, scripting robots and programming robots. ..."

alain

>
> I actually wish that EToys was introduced and structured so that it
> specifically was aimed at teaching me to program rather than to teach
> me Mathematics and Science. But maybe it will do both.
>
> Please let me know,
>
> Greg Smith
> _______________________________________________
> Beginners mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/beginners

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David Mitchell-10

Re: Will EToys Teach Me to Program in Squeak?

In reply to this post by GregSmith

I would recommend:
http://smallwiki.unibe.ch/botsinc/

It really isn't a book about "robots", but you control onscreen robots
(turtle graphics) in lots of the examples.

I've seen the book in various Borders, but you can most easily get it
online. Good intro to fundamental programming concepts. There isn't a
lot of intro to computers curriculum for eToys. This book even has a
chapter that introduces eToys (at the end). Sample chapters and
downloads online.
It has a chapter that introduces eToys

Greg Smith wrote:

> Gentlefolk:
>
> I am entering the field of programming having no prior experience.
> I'm not a kid, age-wise, anyway. It seems every programming language
> I have encountered makes assumptions about my prior knowledge, (that
> I have some), and the teachers of these languages use strange and
> alien terminology to describe actions that I am already unfamiliar
> with. The teachers, (online tutorials), use terminology that is
> familiar to themselves to explain new concepts, but is unfamiliar and
> vague to me.
>
> For these reasons I am looking toward using the EToys, children's
> software, as a means to obtain a total introduction to programming,
> in general, and to Squeak, specifically. Is this the self-education
> route I should take, or is there a better "adult" pathway for learning?
>
> I actually wish that EToys was introduced and structured so that it
> specifically was aimed at teaching me to program rather than to teach
> me Mathematics and Science. But maybe it will do both.
>
> Please let me know,
>
> Greg Smith
> _______________________________________________
> Beginners mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/beginners
>

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Bert Freudenberg-3

Re: Will EToys Teach Me to Program in Squeak?

In reply to this post by GregSmith

Am 06.07.2006 um 18:34 schrieb Greg Smith:

> I actually wish that EToys was introduced and structured so that it
> specifically was aimed at teaching me to program rather than to
> teach me Mathematics and Science. But maybe it will do both.

The focus of etoys indeed is math and science. It's more a simulation
environment than a system to learn programming. That means it can do
much more than a programming language, but at the same time many
concepts of "programming" are not supported, or sometimes in an
unusual way.

IMHO it's still a good start for anyone, but to specifically learn
programming you will have to switch to "Smalltalk", the language in
Squeak. There is a nice Book by Mark Guzdial about this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0130280283/

http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/~mark.guzdial/drafts/

- Bert -

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Jon R. Fox

Re: Will EToys Teach Me to Program in Squeak?

On 7/6/06, Bert Freudenberg <[hidden email]> wrote:

> IMHO it's still a good start for anyone, but to specifically learn
> programming you will have to switch to "Smalltalk", the language in
> Squeak. There is a nice Book by Mark Guzdial about this:
>
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0130280283/
>
> http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/~mark.guzdial/drafts/
>
> - Bert -

Unfortunately Mark's draft pages are completely 404 now but you can
read them here:
http://www.iam.unibe.ch/~ducasse/FreeBooks/GuzdialBookDrafts/

I personally like to browse a book before I purchase it and having the
ability to appreciate Mark's book online greatly influences my
decision to purchase (in the positive in this case).

I also think I will likely get a copy of Stephen's book, since Apress
has at least some sample chapters to read.

I am currently working on a curriculum set for homeschooled and
classically educated children grades 3-12. (as well as science and
technology curriculum in general for this age range).

Best Regards,
Jon

--
Dr. Jon R. Fox
Applied Physicist and Technologist
[hidden email]
http://www.drfox.com
1-973-494-0370
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Simon Michael

Re: Will EToys Teach Me to Program in Squeak?

In reply to this post by GregSmith

Also, does
http://www.iam.unibe.ch/~ducasse/FreeBooks/GuzdialBookDrafts/JoeTheBox-ch3.pdf
help ?

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