I recently started looking at Microsoft Small Basic. I realize that folks who have known me for a long time will be shocked and horrified that I would consider a Microsoft product, since I probably should be trying to teach kids to program with Linux and Python. The reality is that Windows is currently the majority platform, and that a Windows environment makes sense for learning as a result. Happily, the knowledge learned is completely transferable. In any case, Small Basic is a structured BASIC that has turtle graphics and supports things like recursion. I’ll know more later, but for the moment, it seems pretty decent.
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It looks to be a return to a simpler time, that of the original BASIC. If so, it should be a great tool for learning programming.
However, I’d also argue that there is no reason such an IDE couldn’t be built against another language. Python, since you mention it, runs fine on Windows, what you’re lacking is the kid-friendly IDE. Actually, I’ve just become inspired… bbl
The kid-friendly IDE is a big deal, because it is an analogue to the instant-on basics of the past. I would LOVE a lua, python, javascript, haskell, or pascal version of the same. Something with real data structures. *shrug* Time and skill at design keep me from writing such a thing myself. Although, the Qt Creator with QML might make it easy to write a javascript one.
It doesn’t look like any of the original BASICs I remember (Dartmouth BASIC, Apple BASIC, and Commodore BASIC (the last two being rebranded versions of Microsoft BASIC)). Where are the line numbers and the command line?
http://pythonturtle.org/
Oooh… handy.