Re: OFF TOPIC -- Starter programming language for a brilliant child

[Dirk Laurie <dirk.laurie@...>]

2013/3/25 marbux <marbux@gmail.com>:

> About a year ago or so, there was a discussion of whether Lua was the
> best language for a beginner.  As I recall the consensus was "no" but
> some suggestions were made for other languages. One of them caught my
> eye as especially appropriate for children and I thought I had
> bookmarked it, but either the bookmark or the discussion in the
> archives. Does anyone remember enough of it to find the thread again?

It's probably hidden inside one of those 100-posts threads that
wandered far oof the original topic.

> The reason I am asking is that about a week ago I met an 8-year-old
> girl named Hunter whose obvious brilliance very simply rocked me on my
> heels. (I'm going on 67 years old and this was the first time I'd had
> such an experience.) She has no computer. So with her mother's
> permission I am buying her a used laptop. I'd like to equip the laptop
> with that programming language's interpreter and its tutorials.

Although Lua as it stands is not ideal, Love (which is Lua embedded
in a two-dimensional drawing system with support for sound and user
interaction via mouse and other devices) may well be a good choice.
She would not learn the language systematically but by exploration.
Start from an existing working demo and gradually modify it to do
other things.