Comments for Small Basic Teaches Kids How to Program

Small Basic Teaches Kids How to Program

2008-11-08T19:54:05Z

After a year in the making, and with very little fanfare, Microsoft last month launched Small Basic, a free programming language aimed at kids. Unlike Scratch and Alice, tools designed for kids to learn programming in a 'codeless' environment, Small Basic is essentially a small version of the BASIC language.

]]> Drawing inspiration from the original BASIC language, but based on the newer .Net Framework, Small Basic consists of three distinct pieces:

The Language

Consists of just 14 keywords, Small Basic is pure imperative code that runs on the .Net Framework.

The Environment

Small Basic's development environment is simple but provides features that professional developers have come to expect from an IDE including Intellisense

Libraries

Small Basic comes with a set of libraries, and allows you to create new libraries or modify existing ones. It also allows third-party libraries to be plugged in.

A comprehensive and easy to read [we tested it on a nine year old], 62 page introduction (PDF) to the language and to programming in general, is available to anyone interested in giving Small Basic a go.

BASIC has undergone many changes since its inception 40 years ago and while its growth has made it more powerful and capable, it has also become almost overwhelming for a beginner. Even though Small Basic is primarily aimed at children, it just may be the ideal way for anyone interested in programming to dip their feet in the water.

Comment from Matthew Gann on 2011-04-13

2011-04-13T18:01:06Z

BASIC was outdated when I learned it in the 80's. Why do they keep trying to revive it?
I've installed Scratch, and my 8 year old is having a great time playing with it. It really has a lot of nice elements of programming, but you drag and drop keywords/structures rather than type them and deal with syntax errors. I'm sure he'll outgrow scratch before long, but it serves as a great stepping stone to introduce programming painlessly.

Comment from Timmy Macdonald on 2008-11-13

2008-11-13T17:42:23Z

Where's my Small Python?
The TI-BASIC I learned on my graphing calculator taught me some really bad habits (GOTO, I'm looking at you)(and commenting)(and indentation)

Comment from DCC on 2008-11-12

2008-11-12T10:51:57Z

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Comment from impl.emented.com on 2008-11-11

2008-11-11T08:46:10Z

Imho, the 62 page introduction is not comprehensible to regular 9-year-olds, rather 12-13-year-olds. I think I was about 15-16, when I started with BASIC back in the day.

Scratch is probably better suited for smaller kids, 8 and up, whereas Alice seems to be aimed chiefly at college kids. [Trackback]

Comment from web design on 2008-11-10

2008-11-11T05:52:42Z

I still think kids should start off with plain ol' C.

Comment from Free xbox 360 System on 2008-11-10

2008-11-11T00:40:16Z

I'm glad my parents never made me sit in front of a computer and do that. I'll take the sunshine.

Comment from Jason on 2008-11-10

2008-11-10T17:00:52Z

I've worked to teach my son elements of programming. I started him with Kids Programming Language (now called Phrogram: http://phrogram.com/). It definitely fits the bill for providing high-level constructs that let kids see results immediately.

What I found frustrating is the number of arcane details you have to teach a child to get them to a point where they can do anything substantial: obscure keywords and function names, declaring variables, indenting and bracketing (the IDE doesn't do it automatically). You'd get so bogged down in these details that the whole exercise became painful.

I think Phrogram would be perfect for a 10-to-11 year old who has some prior exposure to the concepts of programming.

For a true introductory programming experience, try Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu/). Kids get even more immediate results than with Phrogram, and they get a gentle introduction to the concepts of variables, conditional execution, and event handling. They can do a lot of fun things without even digging into those complex structures.

Comment from Craig on 2008-11-10

2008-11-10T16:36:27Z

I wish I had something like this when I was growing up. I don't know how to code and it's something I wish I could do on my own instead of outsource. It's good to see more computer based training for kids.

Craig
www.budgetpulse.com

Comment from Midla on 2008-11-10

2008-11-10T14:49:57Z

Pretty cool of Microsoft to release this, gonna see if my kid can do anything with this.

Comment from TV Guide on 2008-11-10

2008-11-10T14:40:14Z

My daughter learnt Pascal before going on to C++. I'm pretty sure there is no place for BASIC.

Comment from Matt on 2008-11-10

2008-11-10T14:01:15Z

I've wanted to get into programming for a while now, as I think it will help with my current position (software tech support).

The instructions are easy to follow, as I've never programmed before, and so far I'm having fun.

After Small Basic, I might go into C or Python.

Who knows?

Comment from pink panther on 2008-11-10

2008-11-10T13:01:44Z

Microsoft with their BASIC has probably done more to damage the development of the computer industry in America and worldwide than anything else. They've held back generation after generation of promising young software developers by rotting their brains with BASIC. Just say no!

Comment from Matthew on 2008-11-10

2008-11-10T12:46:03Z

When I was in middle school my computer teacher (retired IBM server architecture designer) gave me and my (advanced) classmates lessons in REXX language. This simple programming changed my problem solving ability. While i am not a programmer, I am a financial analyst who uses excel (excessively) and credit that early programming to my success more then my math training.

Comment from erichansa on 2008-11-10

2008-11-10T10:36:18Z

Ah!!! Finally we learn where the term 'Script Kiddies' comes from.

Comment from Terry A. Davis on 2008-11-09

2008-11-10T07:15:28Z

The LoseThos Operating System is a free, open source OS designed for amateur programmers. It features graphics in source code and a far simpler API. The entire operating system is oriented toward programmers and is only 100,000 lines for the Kernel, 64-bit compiler and everything. It's way easier than Linux to tinker with and is blazing fast -- boots in 2 seconds.

Comment from Terry Davis on 2008-11-09

2008-11-10T07:01:19Z

I've written free compiler/IDE with a more C/C++ oriented language, just for this purpose. It takes one line of code for "Hello world" and two lines of code to put a graphic on the screen.

See LoseThos

Comment from BG on 2008-11-09

2008-11-10T06:15:03Z

This program is too slow. It takes up to 20 seconds for a program to execute (I suppose its compiling) way too long for a kid's attention span.

Hackety Hack takes 1 second (max) which is good except I don't agree about the syntax in Ruby. The keywords are easy, but the way you have to combine things are not.

Example from the interactive Ruby lesson:

1.upto(name.length) do |x|
say "Your name has #{x} letters."
sleep 1
end

Comment from Kelli on 2008-11-09

2008-11-10T04:46:20Z

I have to agree with Peter on this. It's the syntax that makes it difficult. I'm all for structure in any programming language, but there's a big difference in structure and clutter. This is just cluttered, especially to a kid. Straight-up, unabridged ruby is more kid-friendly than Small Basic (basing this assumption off the fact that my kid is learning the basics of ruby just fine).

Comment from Derrick on 2008-11-09

2008-11-10T02:51:15Z

A very wise man once told me, "If someone ever so much as reads BASIC code, they will never be able to program in another language as long as they live." BASIC is a terrible language.

Comment from Jim Woods on 2008-11-09

2008-11-10T01:46:09Z

Nice! I remember writing games in basic on my Commodore 64 back in the day and loved it. I wish my lazy teen would take an interest in computers. His only interest is AIM.

Jess
www.anolite.echoz.com

Comment from th13rteen on 2008-11-08

2008-11-09T04:25:32Z

And who's going to use this? Microsoft seriously is wasting time on all these crap. They do something useful.

Plus the syntax is pretty messed up. I'll have to agree with Peter. Not really kid friendly, is it?

Comment from NitinK on 2008-11-08

2008-11-09T00:28:36Z

Does it work on a Mac? Their web site doesn't say.

Comment from Peter Cooper on 2008-11-08

2008-11-08T20:50:43Z

A noble effort by Microsoft. It's a shame they haven't chosen to include a BASIC with their operating systems since Windows 95 :-(

That said, it still seems too complex to me. The language, that is.. by enforcing a very C-like syntax. The number of keywords isn't important - the style is.

IMHO, Hackety Hack is a better alternative: http://hacketyhack.net/ - it works in a similar way, but the language is much improved.