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

[Andrew Starks <andrew.starks@...>]

On Mon, Mar 25, 2013 at 8:46 AM, Dirk Laurie <dirk.laurie@gmail.com> wrote:
> 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.
>

++ to what Dirk said.

I think that as a *language*, Lua is perfect. It lacks what Love
provides, which is some early, entertaining feedback. If you wanted
to, and could, start with something even more direct, then Lego
Mindstorms is pretty awesome that way, too.

Lua has very few rules and a very basic syntax, which lends to few of
those awkward, "well, normally, you'd be right, except here. I can't
really explain why, right now, because we haven't gotten to that..."

I think Love is a great first choice.

-Andrew