Simviation Forums

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31834927

...just like it was in the good-old days of the 8-bit computers in the 1980's; Sinclair Spectrum 48k (Timex), Commodore C64, Amstrad CPC 464, etc. etc....
....when just about everybody, (including me), and his/her dog, spent hours in their bedrooms, with all their friends, busy programming their computers in BASIC and Machine Code, to produce some wonderful programs. An exercise in "Logic"!

There is a new generation of very clever youngster school children around now, who are ready and able to program complex devices!
It would be nice to bring back memories for me of happy times learning the ins and outs of Computers and how to program them!
It was always easy with 8-bit computers at the time.....I don't know about the latest 32 and 64-bit computers now, with their vast memory locations!
I don't even know if 16/32/64-bit computers can now be programmed in "BASIC" language?...which was very easy at the time!

I still program my trusty Sinclair Spectrum 48k Computer, and have great fun with it!

Little children are very clever little creatures!... ...!

Paul.....Long Live 8-Bits!.... ....!

Father Christmas (me) got my Number One Son a Kano, and he's spent some hours with the HTML and Advanced HTML courses that are bundled with it, I'm proud to say. But, no BASIC, no Visual Basic. The Kano runs a Debian Linux operating system, and Basic is a part of the Microsoft world. I don't think the Microsofties support Visual Basic any longer. Too bad because there are reports of a second generation Raspberry Pi motherboard with Microsoft cooperating, so that a version of Windows 10 will run on it. I'd love to see some Basic learning modules for the kiddos.

"Sinclair BASIC" was/is a wonderfully simple and easy programming language to understand, based on the use of simple English words to construct and run a program...>>>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_BASIC

An extremely versatile language written into ROM (Read Only Memory) within the Sinclair Computer and ready for instant use.

Having written the program in BASIC it was then possible, if required, to compile it into fast assembly code to speed the whole program up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum

I still have all my original Spectrum computers, all their various Hardware, Programming manuals, and crates of Spectrum games and utilities!

...and the latest version, which I also use on my PC!...>>> http://www.spectaculator.com/

So much fun to be had with 8-bits!

Paul.... ...!

I wonder Paul, if you have ever come across, or seen, the "graphical" system of programming.

As a (past) test rig/model builder, I have been using National Instruments LabView for many years.

With LabView you read and process input data, control mechanical devices to your requirements, etc.
It is widely used for telemetry and design in Formula 1, for reading and storing data collected from the cars in real time etc.

https://decibel.ni.com/content/groups/s ... to-labview

Thing is, it does not use "written" code, but rather graphical wiring.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHNlKyYzrPE[/youtube]


As for teaching kids "programming" skills in school, I think is an absolute MUST. As you said, there are many clever kids out there, all with a natural affinity for computers.

Jan