Learn to program Python using a Logo-like turtle(learnpython.org)
learnpython.org
Learn to program Python using a Logo-like turtle
http://www.learnpython.org
11 comments
This—as well as Logo, however fond my memories of it are—are a bad idea because turtles graphics are by nature imperative: you're programming exclusively for side effects.
What the world needs is an approachable version of a system like the image manipulation presented in Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, which takes a functional approach. (It may have only been in the first edition, but it is covered in the Hewlett-Packard videos.)
I'm not a functional programming absolutist, but experience has taught me to think functionally by default. The habit should be instilled in would-be programmers as early as possible.
What the world needs is an approachable version of a system like the image manipulation presented in Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, which takes a functional approach. (It may have only been in the first edition, but it is covered in the Hewlett-Packard videos.)
I'm not a functional programming absolutist, but experience has taught me to think functionally by default. The habit should be instilled in would-be programmers as early as possible.
I haven't finished SICP so I'm not sure which bit you're talking about, could you please point it out? http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-4.html#...
All IO is inherently impure, right? At best you're going to be composing funtions out of smaller functions that implement your graphics desires.
How can you get around having e.g. a circle(radius, x-pos, y-pos, line-color, fill-color) function that draws per your specifications? There's no reason you couldn't implement that circle function using turtle...
All IO is inherently impure, right? At best you're going to be composing funtions out of smaller functions that implement your graphics desires.
How can you get around having e.g. a circle(radius, x-pos, y-pos, line-color, fill-color) function that draws per your specifications? There's no reason you couldn't implement that circle function using turtle...
All the exercises and code in Section 2.2.4
I did not learn how to program using a turtle, so I don't know if it's the right way to go. But intuitively, it seems very simple, at least more than I/O.
Funny coincidence. Just yesterday, I started teaching my 9yr old son programming - he kept pestering me for a while after the science fair at the school, where one of his buddies had a "programming" project.
Long story made short - I ended up choosing Python. Intuitively, I strongly resisted this conclusion. But in the end, it made sense: the syntax is clean (some would say too rigid, I say that's okay for a teaching language), it's pretty hard to obfuscate the code (unlike Perl), you can do "import turtle" and voila it's Logo, and there are plenty of tutorials and books geared towards beginners including young children.
We had lots of fun doing things like:
>>> import turtle
>>> t = turtle.Pen()
>>> t.forward(50)
>>> t.left(90)
>>> t.forward(50)
I showed him variables, a little bit about strings and lists. Next up: loops, if/else, etc.
I'm following this book:
http://www.briggs.net.nz/log/writing/snake-wrangling-for-kid...
Long story made short - I ended up choosing Python. Intuitively, I strongly resisted this conclusion. But in the end, it made sense: the syntax is clean (some would say too rigid, I say that's okay for a teaching language), it's pretty hard to obfuscate the code (unlike Perl), you can do "import turtle" and voila it's Logo, and there are plenty of tutorials and books geared towards beginners including young children.
We had lots of fun doing things like:
>>> import turtle
>>> t = turtle.Pen()
>>> t.forward(50)
>>> t.left(90)
>>> t.forward(50)
I showed him variables, a little bit about strings and lists. Next up: loops, if/else, etc.
I'm following this book:
http://www.briggs.net.nz/log/writing/snake-wrangling-for-kid...
There's also a "turtle" module that came included in my Py3k distribution. Not sure about 2.x versions.
Giving commands like "turtle.forward(10)" opens an asynchronous tk window showing the "turtle" (an arrow, really) and a line where it has passed. The window remains open, the focus goes back to the python interpreter, and you are free to type new commands.
Giving commands like "turtle.forward(10)" opens an asynchronous tk window showing the "turtle" (an arrow, really) and a line where it has passed. The window remains open, the focus goes back to the python interpreter, and you are free to type new commands.
Yeah, it's in 2.x too.
This is cool. An interesting tidbit. We actually used Logo as a programming metaphor when creating our telescope observation software for the Green Bank Telescope (http://www.gb.nrao.edu/gbt/) in Python. The observation software has been in operation for about 8 years now and has been very successful.
The Next Chapter button is not working for me in Firefox after completing the Hello World section
Tell me what you think. Thanks!