programming-for-dummies

56
Teaching Languages
So in 1967, Seymour invented a new programming language — Logo — which
was designed especially for teaching children. The main idea behind Logo is
that rather than create a program to solve abstract problems, like mathematical
equations, Logo shows children how to draw pictures on-screen.
With Logo, you give commands to an imaginary robot commonly called a turtle.
To write a program (and draw pictures), you have to give the “turtle” commands
that tell it which way to move, when to start drawing pictures (known as turtle
graphics), and when to move without drawing pictures. The following Logo program
tells the turtle to draw a square, as shown in Figure 3-1.
PENDOWN
FORWARD 100
LEFT 90
FORWARD 100
LEFT 90
FORWARD 100
LEFT 90
FORWARD 100
LEFT 90
Figure 3-1:
Programming
in Logo
means
giving
commands
to a “turtle”
and telling it
where to
move to
draw
pictures.
By drawing pictures in Logo, even novice programmers could pick up the
principles of programming without even realizing it. Logo has succeeded as
an educational tool for both teaching programming and teaching students how
to think logically and solve problems. Logo has proven popular for graphics,
animation, music, mathematics, and even robotics.
Unlike BASIC though, Logo has remained primarily an educational tool with
few programmers using Logo to develop commercial applications. As a result,
you’re hard pressed to find jobs available for Logo programmers; so Logo is
a great language to find out a different way to program a computer, but it’s
not likely to translate into marketable programming skills any time in the