Squeak

The goal of this book is to explain elementary programming concepts such as loops, abstractions, composition, and conditionals to novices of all ages. It teaches the core programming concepts based on simple problems, involving the manipulation of robots or turtles as frequently seen in school learning environments. The ideal reader wants to have fun programming. And the reader does not have to be fluent in any programming language before they pick up this book.The chapters of this book are relatively small. The idea is that each chapter can be turned into a one or two hour lab session. This book creates a path to teach object-oriented programming and promote the encapsulation of data, but most readers will simply appreciate the delightful sequence of fun and easy-to-do exercises with a robot/turtle. TOC:From the Contents:Getting Started.- A First Script and its Implications.- Of Robots and Men.- Directions and Angles.- Pica's Environment.- Fun with Robots.- Looping.- Variables.- Deeper into Variables.- Debugging.- Loops and Variables.- Composing Messages.- Methods: Named Message Sequences.- Composing Methods.- Parameters and Arguments.- Decomposing to Recompose.- Strings and Tools to Understand Programs.- Conditions.- Conditional Loops.- Boolean and Boolean Expressions.- Coordinates, Points and Absolute Moves.- Advanced Robot Behavior.- Simulating Animal Behavior.- A Tour of eToy.- A Tour of Alice.- Installation.