Full Description
Are you completely new to programming? Do you want to have fun learning to program?
Squeak: Learn Programming with Robots will teach you core programming concepts based on simple, visual problems that involve manipulation of robots, or "turtles." You will learn basic programming concepts like loops, abstractions, composition, and conditionals.
Each chapter is structured so that it can be turned into a one- or two-hour lab session. And while the structured content explains solid principles of object-oriented programming, you'll just have fun going through the sequence of easy examples with the turtle.
And be sure to check out BotsInc, the companion learning environment for this book.
Contents
Getting Started.- Installation and Creating a Robot.- A First Script and Its Implications.- Of Robots and Men.- Directions and Angles.- Pica's Environment.- Fun with Robots.- Elementary Programming Concepts.- Looping.- Variables.- Digging Deeper into Variables.- Loops and Variables.- Composing Messages.- Bringing Abstraction into Play.- Methods: Named Message Sequences.- Combining Methods.- Parameters and Arguments.- Errors and Debugging.- Decomposing to Recompose.- Strings, and Tools for Understanding Programs.- Conditionals.- Conditions.- Conditional Loops.- Boolean and Boolean Expressions.- Coordinates, Points, and Absolute Moves.- Advanced Robot Behavior.- Simulating Animal Behavior.- Other Squeak Worlds.- A Tour of eToy.- A Tour of Alice.
