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Second Edition of Pencil Code

The best parenting advice: before your children grow up, teach them something. They will remember it forever.

So in that spirit, here is an activity to do with your daughter or son over the holidays: give and play with the second edition of Pencil Code (just released). Teach them how to write little computer programs.

The new edition adds a 20 page appendix with a CoffeeScript tutorial, which is particularly helpful if Mom and Dad do not create software for a living. If you already got the first edition and you wish you had the tutorial, do not worry - get the tutorial on the web here and print it.

While you are playing with Pencil Code, also be sure to look at the extra free materials on guide.pencilcode.net - there are handy printable protractors, reference sheets, activities, and videos. And almost all the material in the book is available online for free. If you do not want to use paper, you can just go to pencilcode.net and play for free.

Still, the book makes a terrific present. Children show their incredible sense of wonder when leafing through a little handbook of examples of magical code, each one illustrated in color. Each page is a map to a little adventure, a puzzle and a discovery waiting to unfold.

The book has more than 100 little programming projects, and they range in depth and ability from 1st grade up to 12th grade. The first page hows how to make a webpage that draws a simple line. The last one shows how to make an artificial intelligence that will beat you at tic-tac-toe. In between, draw a flower, make a game of tag, or draw the Mandelbrot set.

It is a little book crammed with ideas, designed to last for a decade. As long as it is in your house, it is a reminder: there is something much cooler than playing computer games: making your own.

(Also, while you're getting the book - Amazon didn't bring the reviews of the first edition along to the second edition, so leave a nice review!)

Posted by David at December 20, 2013 12:22 PM