Channel 9 - Discussions by TheSchwartz http://mschnlnine.vo.llnwd.net/d1/Dev/App_Themes/C9/images/feedimage.png Channel 9 - Discussions by TheSchwartz http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions Channel 9 keeps you up to date with the latest news and behind the scenes info from Microsoft that developers love to keep up with. From LINQ to SilverLight – Watch videos and hear about all the cool technologies coming and the people behind them. http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions en Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:13:59 GMT Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:13:59 GMT Rev9 0 0 0 Coffeehouse - A Beginner's Programming Language Lego Mindstorms is pretty cool, yep, and I've heard a lot about Karel.  We have put together a wrapper for KPL which allows KPL-easy programming of Lego Mindstorms - wrapping their API like we did the DirectX api, to make them easier to use.  We haven't released it yet, but we may get to that next what with KPL v 2 now going out the door.  Another reason we've hesitated on that one is that we thought we might be better off doing the same thing with the new Lego Mindstorms NXT robots.  Does anyone have feedback or experience with NXT yet?

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/229546-A-Beginners-Programming-Language/ebf1042ce28a46f1a0aa9dea010b81ed#ebf1042ce28a46f1a0aa9dea010b81ed Sat, 30 Sep 2006 15:20:58 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/229546-A-Beginners-Programming-Language/ebf1042ce28a46f1a0aa9dea010b81ed#ebf1042ce28a46f1a0aa9dea010b81ed TheSchwartz 16 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - A Beginner's Programming Language Ion, I have fond memories of Pascal, too, especially Turbo Pascal - ah, it rocked!  Even when we had to work around compiler bugs!

We all have favorites, I'm sure, but I think I should post Brin's update directly here, cause it is so relevant to the discussion and the point.  He's not so much arguing for BASIC - as everyone seemed to interpret him - he's more making the point that there should be SOMETHING, ANYTHING, which is available for kids to learn programming, on ANY COMPUTER they sit down in front of.  It's a pretty good point.  Here's the quote from Brin:
As for my essay on Salon, “Why Johnny Can’t Code”… alas, It was NOT about BASIC per se. Only a small minority seemed at all interested in even looking at my core idea, which was how to create a nice, comfortable starting point for millions of kids, so they could use their computers to do a little COMPUTING for mild classroom assignments, and so get a taste of this way of looking at the world.
Indeed, the tiniest fraction seemed to grasp how valuable it once was (but no longer) for ALL kids to be able to easily type in little illustrative examples at the end of each math or physics chapters. Everyone seemed to think it could still be done. But it cannot. I repeat that. It cannot AND it simply, simply cannot be done.
It does no good to preach what languages kids SHOULD have. Most don’t. Period.
People who praise their specific beloved language, without noticing that millions of kids have no easy, quick, turnkey pedagogical access to ANY common computer language, are missing the whole point.
He has a good point, doesn't he?  In an email exchange after that, he mentioned the Web, aka the Browser, as an ideal on-every-kids-computer place where something like this could be done.  Ruby and Python offer some of that now, but I think it's fairly crude, and I don't yet know of other web-based programming environments.  Note I'm actually talking about using the Web browser as an IDE - including with things kids want, like colors and sounds and sprites and 3D model.  Definitely a cool thought, eh?

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/229546-A-Beginners-Programming-Language/8a477111f28746ee9f139dea010b8120#8a477111f28746ee9f139dea010b8120 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 20:58:14 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/229546-A-Beginners-Programming-Language/8a477111f28746ee9f139dea010b8120#8a477111f28746ee9f139dea010b8120 TheSchwartz 16 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - A Beginner's Programming Language Full disclosure - one of the KPL guys here.  Smiley

Lots of links, in case you're interested, including feedback from David Brin directly on my blog.  Here's that post to/from Brin, on the topic of his essay Why Johnny Can't Code:

http://theschwartz.wordpress.com/2006/09/26/david-brin-proves-blogs-work/

The Kid's Programming Language site itself is at

http://www.k-p-l.org

The NEW version of KPL is available now, renamed Phrogram, cause it's no longer just for kids:

http://www.phrogram.com

Highlights and improvements in the new version include:
  • Production of .NET executables (Mandelbrot went from a 120 second render in interpreted KPL to ONE second in compiled phrogram)
  • Support for simple DirectX-based 3D programming (35 lines of code to fly a spaceship around from your keyboard)
  • Interactive debugging
  • File I/O

Channel 9's own Charles did a 45 minute video of us demoing and discussing KPL and its new version:

http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=166995

KPL was actually presented at SIGGRAPH 2006, and the SIGGRAPH paper is available here:

http://www.k-p-l.org/Files/KPLpaperSIGGRAPH2006.pdf

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/229546-A-Beginners-Programming-Language/13e9788bb9214cb4b91b9dea010b809f#13e9788bb9214cb4b91b9dea010b809f Fri, 29 Sep 2006 20:19:51 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/229546-A-Beginners-Programming-Language/13e9788bb9214cb4b91b9dea010b809f#13e9788bb9214cb4b91b9dea010b809f TheSchwartz 16 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS The Sandbox - KPL Game and article - SantaGifts Oh, man!  I just have to add this - you're not gonna believe what Larry's doing with a KPL version of Missile Command!  Schweet!  What do you think, Larry, another Coding4Fun article about that when it's done??

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Sandbox/KPL-Game-and-article-SantaGifts/3f93dbba00d8468b8afc9dea01045bf2#3f93dbba00d8468b8afc9dea01045bf2 Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:21:01 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Sandbox/KPL-Game-and-article-SantaGifts/3f93dbba00d8468b8afc9dea01045bf2#3f93dbba00d8468b8afc9dea01045bf2 TheSchwartz 5 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS The Sandbox - KPL Game and article - SantaGifts Hey Androidi!  Thanks for checking out KPL.  Yeah, truth is, us big kids are having as much fun with it as the kid kids are.  Big Smile

We have recorded a video interview and demo of KPL for Channel 9, btw - it should be up in another 2 or 3 weeks.  Keep an eye out for it! It'll include stuff that's only under development for KPL v 2 - like robotic remote control and 3D programming with 30 lines of code. :O

Probably the best link for checking out KPL is this one, which shows a bunch of screenshots, of the IDE as well as lots of programs that have been written with KPL.  Oh, if you check them out, make sure you scroll down to see the coolest ones at the bottom of the page.  Smiley

http://www.ms-inc.net/ViewThread.aspx?ThreadID=150

the kpl site itself is http://www.kidsprogramminglanguage.com

Hat's off to Larry, who has written several of the best of them, including the one he posted about here!

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Sandbox/KPL-Game-and-article-SantaGifts/f420b70f1882454093829dea01045bc9#f420b70f1882454093829dea01045bc9 Wed, 14 Dec 2005 02:13:58 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Sandbox/KPL-Game-and-article-SantaGifts/f420b70f1882454093829dea01045bc9#f420b70f1882454093829dea01045bc9 TheSchwartz 5 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - C# interview question Hopefully I'm not the only one who likes code puzzles?  What happens with this block:

-------------------------

int i;

for (i=0; ;i++)
{
   Console.Writeln(i);
}

-------------------------

Jon Schwartz
35 freeware .NET/SQL tools
www.ms-inc.net

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/88955-C-interview-question/88955#88955 Fri, 22 Jul 2005 13:32:23 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/88955-C-interview-question/88955#88955 TheSchwartz 36 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Roll call - tell us who you are! Hello!  I'm Jon Schwartz, TheSchwartz part of Morrison Schwartz. 

I'm a former Microsoftie, and before during and after that I've been focused on MS developer tools and technologies - cause they're the best available.  

My company is a software development and consulting with an office near Redmond and one near Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.  We are MS Certified Partners and vendors to MS.

We offer 35 freeware developer tools, components and libraries for download on our company site, all built for .NET or MSDE/SQL work.  About a third are open C# source as well as freeware.  Highlights:

- Extensible add-in for the VS.NET IDE
- Script generator for SQL schema and data
- Plugin library makes plugins easy
- Compression library doubles IIS performance
- Web chat component without ActiveX or Java

http://www.ms-inc.net/Products.aspx

If you look, you'll find cool stuff to use.  If you do, please help spread the word about them.

Thanks,

Jon Schwartz
Morrison Schwartz
www.ms-inc.net

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/1445-Roll-call-tell-us-who-you-are/bd8b51b726654faa91e99dea011251b0#bd8b51b726654faa91e99dea011251b0 Fri, 22 Jul 2005 13:15:56 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/1445-Roll-call-tell-us-who-you-are/bd8b51b726654faa91e99dea011251b0#bd8b51b726654faa91e99dea011251b0 TheSchwartz 424 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - 35 freeware dev/test tools for .NET and SQL geeks Poke fun, it's ok.  I am TheSchwartz, words will never hurt me.  Smiley

Seriously, a guid generator ships with SharpTools - look for the {a} toolbar button.  You click it, then click the Go button, and SharpTools pastes a generated guid into the IDE at the current selection point.  Since that is one too many clicks, if you download SharpTools and want to modify the source for that plugin, I'll be glad to send it to you. 

And anyway, a better way to do it is write a custom plugin which either a) replaces all instances of 'GUIDgoesHERE' in a script file with a GUID or b) completely automates the generation of each line of script in your file, including but not limited to the GUID.  We'll help you get started with those too, if you want to take the time to learn SharpTools. It's worth it.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/88059-35-freeware-devtest-tools-for-NET-and-SQL-geeks/483cacefbdb847b8b25f9dec005f71d5#483cacefbdb847b8b25f9dec005f71d5 Wed, 20 Jul 2005 19:29:31 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/88059-35-freeware-devtest-tools-for-NET-and-SQL-geeks/483cacefbdb847b8b25f9dec005f71d5#483cacefbdb847b8b25f9dec005f71d5 TheSchwartz 12 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - 35 freeware dev/test tools for .NET and SQL geeks 40000 downloads served, and noone's reported us messing up VS yet.  Course, it could be noone has ever uninstalled our stuff.  Wink

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/88059-35-freeware-devtest-tools-for-NET-and-SQL-geeks/e544408d83e14e99b36e9dec005f70e9#e544408d83e14e99b36e9dec005f70e9 Wed, 20 Jul 2005 15:59:07 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/88059-35-freeware-devtest-tools-for-NET-and-SQL-geeks/e544408d83e14e99b36e9dec005f70e9#e544408d83e14e99b36e9dec005f70e9 TheSchwartz 12 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - 35 freeware dev/test tools for .NET and SQL geeks Been downloadable for about two years now.  Thus, 'Please help spread the word.'  Smiley

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/88059-35-freeware-devtest-tools-for-NET-and-SQL-geeks/7c88ea2e1c834cee8b2d9dec005f709b#7c88ea2e1c834cee8b2d9dec005f709b Wed, 20 Jul 2005 15:12:38 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/88059-35-freeware-devtest-tools-for-NET-and-SQL-geeks/7c88ea2e1c834cee8b2d9dec005f709b#7c88ea2e1c834cee8b2d9dec005f709b TheSchwartz 12 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - 35 freeware dev/test tools for .NET and SQL geeks About a third are open source as well as freeware.  Hightlights:

- Extensible add-in for the VS.NET IDE
- Script generator for SQL schema and data
- Plugin library makes plugins easy
- Compression library doubles IIS performance
- Web chat component without ActiveX or Java

http://www.ms-inc.net/Products.aspx

Enjoy!  And please help spread the word! 

TheSchwartz

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/88059-35-freeware-devtest-tools-for-NET-and-SQL-geeks/88059#88059 Wed, 20 Jul 2005 14:55:00 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/88059-35-freeware-devtest-tools-for-NET-and-SQL-geeks/88059#88059 TheSchwartz 12 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/TheSchwartz/Discussions/RSS