Strange Loop Conference
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2022–2024
40:57 · 17K views · Oct 18, 2022
Felienne Hermans presents Hedy, a gradual programming language for teaching kids that moves through levels from almost no syntax toward full Python. The talk covers why error messages and syntax are scary for beginners.
HN points to it in beginner-programming-education threads for its distinction between easy to learn and easy to teach.
3 comments from Hacker News
This reminded me a little of Hedy language: [LINK] It starts off super simple, like: print something and then introduces all the fiddly concepts like quoting, escaping etc. 1 by 1 until it turns into python. The designer had a neat talk about it at the strange loop conference. One of the themes they talk about is the difference between "easy to learn" and "easy to teach" which I found insightful. [LINK] this video
For 8yo, maybe you can consider bringing her through Hedy: [LINK] It's gradual (starts easy but limited, then with progress through levels gets more precise and powerful), and I read that it gets to full blown Python programming. Theres an excellent talk on the approach by the author: this video
[LINK] is spearheaded by the wonderful [LINK] you might know her from her spreadsheet related research. She gave a wonderful talk at Splash 2023 on Hedy, I'll see if I can find it. *edit, I don't think it was recorded but I found these two which will do Hedy: Creating a Programming Language for EveryoneFelienne Hermans • YOW! 2023 [LINK] "Hedy: A Gradual programming language" by Felienne Hermans (Strange Loop 2022) this video