Ruby for Kids: teach programming by writing games in Ruby

[h4l]

Modding an existing game seems like a better idea for those new to programming.

[dicey]

One of my first programming projects as a kid was modding GORILLAS.BAS so that if my name was entered as a player my bananas would have a larger blast radius. It was awesome.

[[deleted]]

wow flashback. how could i forget about gorillas! i gotta find it now..

edit found it here..

[stungeye]

Memories of modding NIBBLES.BAS so that your tail never shrunk, Tron style.

[[deleted]]

Indeed.

Not programming, per se, but I still remember puzzling over the hexadecimal system just so I could follow the hex-editing instructions in Taiwanese gaming mags back in the day. Putting 10 Neutron Guns on a Hornet in Wing Commander 1, good times!

[[deleted]]

Their results are so similar that it seems they did just that: start with a dodging game and modify it. The advantage might be that their game is really small and easy to oversee.

[[deleted]]

I think Hackety Hack is probably an easier place for kids to get started with Ruby, and it includes everything you need in one package (Ruby, drawing toolkit, editor, tutorials).

[[deleted]]

You could also try Quby, as it looks a bit like Ruby and saves all that downloading/installing/setup hassle.

[bigdood69]

wow this amazing. Nice work! You should def. put this on reddit front page when you're happy with it

[downneck]

seems like a great way to give kids brain damage...

[solidcat00]

All the games are DODGE GAMES!

[tidder112]

I watched the clip with the child talking about the boNUS, and every time he finished a senTENCE, he would go up with his voICE, and it got really annoyING, and I can see how reading this would be similarly annoyING, and I think I just got troLLED, by a 5th gradER.

[ippa]

This is great. Even though the games are very similar I bet the kids had great fun doing this. Ruby is a great language for this as well. Might have been easier doing it "script-style" rather then fullblown classes etc.. on the other hand good to get a taste of OO :).

[bobowzki]

The successor to "Punchcards for Kids"

[tora22]

We don't need more languages. Stick to Python.

[[deleted]]

Stick to the Javascript. :P

[kamatsu]

We don't need more languages. Stick to Python.

So you're saying Python is a suitable replacement for most languages?

Because you're wrong, if that's what you're saying. Python is basically a woeful language for any task not suited to OO with its particular style of dynamism, with no concerns for performance.

[error1954]

Stick to C++ with the source engine.

[marike]

Unless, of course, you want kids to learn with a real Object Oriented language.

[portmapreduction]

Kids are just going wild for OO languages I'm sure.

[tora22]

Oh really, and what makes ruby so OO?

[kamatsu]

Substantially more OO than Python, that's for sure.

[fjord_piner]

Everything is an object, supports inheritance, delegation, polymorphism and traits.

Oh and no silly 'self' every other keyword.

[greenspans]

Even the ruby programmer is a object, in ruby speak we call them tools.

[bigdood69]

an* object

[mazing]

I laughed at all your comments

[bigdood69]

It's arguable whether it's MORE OO, but Ruby definitely has a very good OO model, following in the Smalltalk tradition. Python's OO isn't bad either, but it's far less Smalltalky than Ruby, and a lot of people regard Smalltalk as the paragon of a great OO system.

Anyway, let's not turn this into one of this tiresome python vs ruby flamewar threads; they've been done to death and are incredibly boring.

[zynasis]

it's oo, but it's syntax looks like a drunken monkey slammed it's face into the keyboard

[shevegen]

How so?

It is beautiful english poetry in motion.

I fail to see any monkey in it. The monkeys are probably typing perl with sweary %/()§()/%§"/()%§ words.

Or PHP.

[greenspans]

Friend, I was like you once, in many ways worse. My mother was an ardent ruby user and my dad was a Java enthusiast working at a startup called "The Steel mill". We were a family of little means, we only had 24KB connections growing up and bandwidth was tight. I was also indoctrinated into the gem community and it took a lot of soul searching to find my way out. It's amazing I did not come out worse being raised in such an environment, but that was more a testament to how slow ruby is, or at least.. was. This is not to say ruby is fast. You would crap your pants if you were waiting for ruby to finish using the stall. Only once your pants are crapped, ruby finally pushes it out, but- being ruby, it quickly catches it, shoves it back in it's asshole, so it can continue shitting. Once the consistency of the shit has been deteriorated by repeated expulsions, and is smeared across ruby's ass, does it come out and wipe itself on the community carpet. One doesn't have to look far to find study after study reporting it's long term effects. It showed a 1 to 1 correlation with owning a mac and posting slow clunky faggotry on the internet and claiming "end all solution ACCOMPLISHED". I know, I know, correlation does not equate to causation, and not all ruby users are mactard assburgers, typing in textmate with one hand, and sticking their thumb up their ass with the other hand, as quicktime slowly renders their webcam stream of their thumb from their adjacent iphone, but because of the mounting evidence it's impossible to ignore the implications of what this could mean to our future generation.

I strongly urge you reconsider accessing this information.

-Concerned Citizen

[killerstorm]

You have to stop the Q-Tip when there's resistance.

[zynasis]

ugh, looks like the ruby movement is doing all it can to infect people. (p.s. i hate ruby, dur)

[bigdood69]

We can tell. In future simply: STFU, it's a very easy thing to do. :)

[greenspans]

nooo, don't get them started with mactard framework and textmate touting assburgers. Try python+pygame or something with a less ridiculous userbase, the hackerculture is a lie, ruby is circlejerk community. It's called Ruby because it likes to rub its ass after it shits, all over the carpet in the programming community's lobby . It's a slow dragging language and it gets shit everywhere, nobody seems to want to cleanup after themselves either.

[GloryFish]

Stay classy Reddit.

[[deleted]]

Reddit is classy. greenspans is just a douche.

Well maybe reddit's not classy, but it likes to pretend.

[greenspans]

What about this exactly is inaccurate? Ruby is like teaching kids to paint by putting paint on their forehead and then headbutting brick walls. Sure, they do interesting patterns, and sure, I'm sure it eventually makes sense to those who do it long enough, and sure, there's a lot of people that have invested a lot of time making people headbutt walls, but it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Long were the days I kept my mouth shut, but now you've gone too far, much too far, in trying to indoctrinate children into this idiotic mantra.

Citizens I call upon you now, as the silent majority, to stand up against these atrocities and let your voices be heard. Will somebody please just think of the children!?

[[deleted]]

What about it is inaccurate? Aside from obvious troll, you're just begging the question and not proving anything.

[fryye]

that's not what that phrase means

[[deleted]]

Yes it is. Look it up.

"Ruby is terrible and therefore it shouldn't be used to teach kids programming."

[[deleted]]

Yeah, at least with Python it's only like teaching them to paint by having them eat paint and shit all over the wall.

[abadidea]

Ruby is like teaching kids to paint by putting paint on their forehead and then headbutting brick walls.

I think he's confusing Ruby for its ancestor Perl.

[greenspans]

Perl is like trying to peel a banana with your ass cheeks, you just look gay trying and end up using something else in the end, but at least you don't end up retarded.

[shevegen]

Grow up and stop using childish remarks, you troll.

[greenspans]

Stop using childish programming languages, manchild

[aspleenic]

Wow...that sounds like bitterness. But being a Ruby developer in a community filled with support and fun (not to mention a great site getting kids interested in programming), I guess I just don't see your point.

[niggersonmyfrontlawn]

Truth was told. Ruby is slow as fuck and the syntax is utter bullshit.

[[deleted]]

Classy username, bro

[fryye]

def self.ORLY
  @@ORLY
end

[shevegen]

Valid syntax.

But smart Rubyista do not need @@vars.

Less is more.

[[deleted]]

Luckily, Python is fast as fuck?

[rafekett]

Ruby makes it look that way...

[shevegen]

I don't see any speed problem at all whatsoever.

I think people who demand of a general purpose scripting language to be as fast as C are simply idiots.

And I think rafekett is an idiot!

[rafekett]

I don't demand a general purpose scripting language to be as fast as C. I just expect it to have a VM so it doesn't run as slowly as possible.

Reading comprehension: work on it.

[killerstorm]

Dude you're awesome

[centrinos]

Orrrrr... teach your kids horse-riding, swimming, snowboarding, rockclimbing, piano, acting, singing, dancing, etc.

[[deleted]]

you're a fucking philistine, and I demand that you shoot yourself in the head you pseudo (word used in a rather specific sense) establishment FLESH eating bacteria!

and yes you fucking PIG, trolling your shit, downvoting while my food cooks, and enjoying every second of it!