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Microsoft Small Basic
So I read about this on Download Squad this morning and, I've gotta say, I'm impressed. Microsoft Small Basic (not to be confused with the GPL programming language) makes learning how to program feel easy for people who aren't pre-disposed towards coding.
The beginning interface is simple and non-threatening, a far cry from it's grown-up brother Visual Basic Express 2010, and it boasts one particular feature that I think is pretty fucking awesome. When you start to type a function, a little "helper" appears and offers you choices to try and auto complete what you are typing. And it's not just for the built-in functions, it also recognizes and offers any variables you might have created throughout your
program. And it does this intelligently.
It also sports another feature which I think is kinda interesting. If you want to share your code with the world, you can do it very easily. Just click the publish button on the ribbon, and your program will recieve a unique identifier and an URL, which will allow it to be accessable to anyone you share the URL or ID with. You can also name, catagorize, and give a brief description about the program before its uploaded for the world to see.
Microsoft also provides a neat "little" 65 page intructional manual, complete with screenshots, to help teach you how to program in Small Basic. It has a number of great tutorials that steps you through writing the program, describing each portion of the code, at a speed that lets the budding programmer-in-training grow some confidence in writing their first programs.
Small Basic also sports many other cool features, like Flickr integration, the ability to program in Logo using Turtle, and the ability to "graduate" your code to VisualStudio 2010 Express.
Overall, (if you couldn't tell), I'm pretty excited about Microsoft Small Basic. I've always wanted to learn programming and, I think, for beginner programmers like me, this is a great way to get into programming.
Links:
Microsoft Small Basic Homepage: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/ff384126.aspx
The beginning interface is simple and non-threatening, a far cry from it's grown-up brother Visual Basic Express 2010, and it boasts one particular feature that I think is pretty fucking awesome. When you start to type a function, a little "helper" appears and offers you choices to try and auto complete what you are typing. And it's not just for the built-in functions, it also recognizes and offers any variables you might have created throughout your
program. And it does this intelligently.
It also sports another feature which I think is kinda interesting. If you want to share your code with the world, you can do it very easily. Just click the publish button on the ribbon, and your program will recieve a unique identifier and an URL, which will allow it to be accessable to anyone you share the URL or ID with. You can also name, catagorize, and give a brief description about the program before its uploaded for the world to see.
Microsoft also provides a neat "little" 65 page intructional manual, complete with screenshots, to help teach you how to program in Small Basic. It has a number of great tutorials that steps you through writing the program, describing each portion of the code, at a speed that lets the budding programmer-in-training grow some confidence in writing their first programs.
Small Basic also sports many other cool features, like Flickr integration, the ability to program in Logo using Turtle, and the ability to "graduate" your code to VisualStudio 2010 Express.
Overall, (if you couldn't tell), I'm pretty excited about Microsoft Small Basic. I've always wanted to learn programming and, I think, for beginner programmers like me, this is a great way to get into programming.
Links:
Microsoft Small Basic Homepage: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/ff384126.aspx
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