The Best Programs and Websites for Learning to Code

• KTurtle is an educational programming environment which “aims to make programming as easy and accessible as possible.” It is based on the Logo language. The KTurtle Handbook is a very good manual to start with. For instance, let’s draw a triangle, a square, and a curly flower:

 reset
    repeat 4 {
    forward 100
    turnleft 90
  }

reset
repeat 3 {
  forward 100
  turnleft 120
}

• EToys “is a media-rich authoring environment and visual programming system for teaching children powerful ideas in compelling ways.”

Let’s make a script. Drag out a “forward by” and a “turn by” tiles. It can be triggered to run over and over by clicking on its clock. We can find out exactly what the car is doing by dropping its pen - which will trace its path-. Set the property “pen down” to true in the pen category.

• Another option is Scratch. This is a programming language and online community in which you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

Now, you can program online. Go to Scratch, and click on Start Creating. You need to drag different modules or blocks into the Scripts area. For instance, drag a MOVE block (move 10 steps or turn 15 degrees) into the Scripts area. Then, add a sound (play sound meow), and an Event block (when the green flag is clicked). Finally, snap the green flag.

Other ideas

1. Alice is an innovative block-based programming environment that makes it easy to create animations, build interactive narratives, or program simple games in 3D. It is designed to teach logical and computational thinking skills, fundamental principles of programming and to be a first exposure to object-oriented programming.
2. Microsoft MakeCode brings computer science to life for all students with fun projects, immediate results, and both block and text editors for learners at different levels.
3. If you want to learn HTML, CSS, and Javascript: Eloquent JavaScript, Web Fundamentals, Mozilla Development Network, and The Code Player are the places to go.
4. More ideas: Code.org, CodeAcademy, Khan Academy, and Codewars are the easiest ways to learn how to code. MIT’s Open Courseware is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The idea is simple: to publish all of our course materials online and make them widely available to everyone.” Coursera is an American online learning platform that partners with universities and organizations worldwide, to offer free courses online.^
5. Apps: Encode is an app to help you learn how to program from the comfort of your Android. Tynker is a fun way to learn programming and develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Solve puzzles to learn concepts, easily build your own games, and control robots and drones using our new step-by-step coding tutorials. mimo Learn to code, build apps, and much more in a fun and interactive way – no matter how much experience and time you have.