What is the simplest program for my wife to learn?

[yungman]

Hi

I have been talking here trying to learn C++, my wife asked me whether she can learn some programming. She does not have any scientific education, she is retired already. I just bought a Python for kids for my grand daughter to encourage her to get into coding. You think this is too much for my wife?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1641521759/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Any other suggestions or books. It would be nice if both learn python, but my wife never even tough anything like this.

Thanks

 

[jedishrfu]

Python is good. One problem for many people is having a reason to learn programming. What can it do? How can I use it? Can it do this cool thing?

Sometimes, the reason maybe to develop some tool but it turns out its way too difiicult to implement. Some enjoy the challenge others not so much.

The book you referenced seems to be pretty good and perhaps if she is working with the kids she'll enjoy it more. Py.thon has the advantage of minimal syntax to worry about with good warnings when you abuse a variable too

My suggestion often is to learn programming via the Processing language and IDE. Processing is based on java and is designed to be usable by beginners, casual programmers and artists interested in interactive art.

There are a lot of resources available including cool graphics libs and sample programs. People get immediate feedback in the form of visual graphics that you can alter via programming. I wrote an insight article on PF about it. Check it out.

processing.org

 

[bhobba]

Yes for me Python is the language to learn. The simplest program of all is 'Hello World'. I worked as a programmer for over 20 years and know only too well the language wars where devotees of different languages each push their own favorite. But Python is both common and easy, so is a good choice. Its only issue is efficiency, but that should not be a worry at the start. When it comes time to worry about that I suggest combining Python with LuaJIT:


Why study programming. That IMHO is best illustrated by a little story. During my time as a programmer we decided to move from the language Natural to Cool-Gen which was a code generator to Cobol code. Natural compiled to a threaded interpretive intermediate language similar to what Python does. In reality they were both about as powerful as far as programmer productivity were concerned. But the purveyors of Cool-Gen told our obviously very tech savvy fearless leaders, who should have really consulted actual programmers like me first, that being a code generator you do not need programmers - business people can do it. They fell for it, and sent business people to Cool-Gen courses. They lasted an hour before they left, it being over their heads. When they returned one sad to me - Bill what's an array. How embarrassing. It just goes to show everyone should really know programming basics - you never know when you will need it.

Thanks
Bill

 

[yungman]

Thanks for the input

She asked me, so I come here to ask in case I miss something. She has no computer programming experience, I think it's a stretch for her to learn. She is only interested only because my grand daughter is trying to learn Python using that book, I am trying to learn C++, so she's curious.

She doesn't have any idea what to do with it, I guess she just want to learn some coding to play around.

 

[jedishrfu]

Have your granddaughter teach her. Have them use turtle graphics to draw stuff and create subroutines that draw stuff:

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/turtle-graphics-using-python

Consider using Anaconda as it installs everything python. Alternatively, there's pip but I've had good luck with anaconda.

Lastly, the Processing IDE has a mode for python with graphics. Under the covers it uses jython which is python 2.7 implemented on top of java which makes it quite portable across OS platforms.

 

[anorlunda]

that being a code generator you do not need programmers - business people can do it.

LOL, then later came Visicalc, and after that Lotus 1-2-3 and our doom was sealed.

Have your granddaughter teach her. Have them use turtle graphics

That is an excellent recommendation. Many people have used turtle graphics to learn some basic points about what it means to program, and also to learn whether or not they are interested in deeper study.

Long ago, I taught an into to programming course. We made a pong game with BASIC. That game accomplished the goal. Everybody understood the game. They saw what happened when we had bugs. Some students said programming is fun, I want to learn more. Others said the opposite.

Intro to programming, is not programming 101, it is a prerequisite to programming 101.

 

[pbuk]

I have recommended codecademy to you before, it the easiest way to try out a language (or even programming anything for the first time) without having to download or install anything.

 

[sysprog]

Hey, @yungman, here's a link to a logic puzzle game for Android: https://apkpure.com/circuit-scramble-computer-logic-puzzles/com.Suborbital.CircuitScramble

If your wife likes it, and even if she doesn't, maybe she'll get a better understanding of your appreciation for the exigencies of embedded systems.

And I'll warrant that your granddaughter will think that it's fun.

 

[rbelli1]

I think it's a stretch for her to learn.

That's rather mean.

The most important ability when learning to program is patience.

With your attitude towards her we know she has plenty. She should do just fine.

BoB

 

[yungman]

That's rather mean.

The most important ability when learning to program is patience.

With your attitude towards her we know she has plenty. She should do just fine.

BoB

Please stop the insult.

 

[yungman]

I bought this book for her, the same book I bought for my grand daughter.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1641521759/?tag=pfamazon01-20

My question is whether I should load the Visual Studio for her or load what the book suggested from Python.org?

I am sure the Python.org must be easier than VS. The difference is I am using VS for learning C++, I have no idea about Python.org. My question is whether the command and how it works on VS for Python is the same as for C++? If it is almost the same, then I can help her getting start on VS. I cannot help her if it is from Python.org.

FYI, my wife belong to the pre-computer days when she finished her high school. She never learn logic, sets type of thing, she never learn algebra, trigonometry or geometry. So this is going to be a stretch for her. So I want to make it the easiest for her. She is not computer blind, she use MS Words, Excel and Photoshop, but that's the extend of her experience. I am the IT guy of the house if there is any computer problem...AND my computer knowledge is NOTHING to write home, just surviving at best!

Therefore, if VS works the same in writing Python as C++, VS might be the better route for her to use even it might be more difficult as I am there to at least answer some question. So far, knock on wood, I have been writing, compiling and run debug in C++ with no issue.

Thanks

 

[sysprog]

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/get-started/visual-basic/tutorial-console?view=vs-2019

 

[yungman]

My question is whether creating project, compile and run Python in VS is the same as C++ in VS, that what I learn working on C++ is the same as Python in VS? That's I can help my wife in writing and running her Python with VS.

Thanks

 

[rcgldr]

How much math does your wife know? Back in the days of Fortran, a common first program was solving a quadratic equation, taking 3 inputs (for the coefficients). Another early program was the guess the number where the user pick a number between 1 and 1000, the program makes a series of guesses and asks if the guessed number is higher or lower (the program could accept inputting 0 for lower, 1 for higher, 2 for equal (a match) to avoid string compares). Other early examples are math based programs where the equation(s) is(are) given, such as a loan payment calculator given principle, interest, and number of monthly payments.

One advantage of Visual Studio C / C++ (or it's other languages), is it's IDE, including a source level debugger.

There's NetBeans for Java, but for more advanced programming down the road, I don't like Java having to use object classes that duplicate native types, such as "Integer" for "int", for cases like using a lambda compare, or it's weak native linked list, which doesn't include a way to "move" nodes similar to C++ std::list::splice(), and iterators to a linked list that get invalidated whenever there is an insertion or deletion of a node in a native linked list, and iterators that can't be copied.

 

[yungman]

How much math does your wife know? Back in the days of Fortran, a common first program was solving a quadratic equation, taking 3 inputs (for the coefficients). Another early program was the guess the number where the user pick a number between 1 and 1000, the program makes a series of guesses and asks if the guessed number is higher or lower (the program could accept inputting 0 for lower, 1 for higher, 2 for equal (a match) to avoid string compares). Other early examples are math based programs where the equation(s) is(are) given, such as a loan payment calculator given principle, interest, and number of monthly payments.

One advantage of Visual Studio C / C++ (or it's other languages), is it's IDE, including a source level debugger.

There's NetBeans for Java, but for more advanced programming down the road, I don't like Java having to use object classes that duplicate native types, such as "Integer" for "int", for cases like using a lambda compare, or it's weak native linked list, which doesn't include a way to "move" nodes similar to C++ std::list::splice(), and iterators to a linked list that get invalidated whenever there is an insertion or deletion of a node in a native linked list, and iterators that can't be copied.

My wife never learn algebra, geometry or trigonometry, just simple arithmetic. She only have high school. She worked her way up to grade 13 in Federal Government ( grade 14 is manager position). She's very good in accounting, regulations at work. She never even know Fortran and all that, never learn boolean, sets or logics.

It is going to be a challenge for her, but I encourage her to try. she's 75, it is more important to learn to keep the mind active than really learning the program. She's doing paper craft as hobby, I think learn Python is going to push her mind more and keep her mind in shape.

Hell, I am 67, I don't need to learn C++, it's all about keeping the mind active. Since I retired, I have been designing very high end hifi power amp. It's to the point it's not challenging anymore, every change is just incremental and not stimulate my mind anymore. That's the reason I pick up C++ for the hell of it. I am nudging my 14 years old grand daughter to learn Python and got her the book, my wife kind of mention whether she can learn it. So I said try it and see. That's how it all started.

 

[robphy]

These days, when I introduce folks to computer programming, I suggest they get a free account at
https://trinket.io/ and work with Python or Glowscript (a web-based version of VPython).
In my opinion, you get to focus on the programming
and less on the programming interface.

Here's some starter code I gave to someone.
https://trinket.io/library/trinkets/cc7a22f334 (the scene on the right is a 3D visualization, which you can rotate)

You can also use Blocks to program
https://trinket.io/library/trinkets/create?lang=blocks

 

[FactChecker]

My wife never learn algebra, geometry or trigonometry, just simple arithmetic. She only have high school. She worked her way up to grade 13 in Federal Government ( grade 14 is manager position). She's very good in accounting, regulations at work. She never even know Fortran and all that, never learn boolean, sets or logics.

It is going to be a challenge for her, but I encourage her to try. she's 75, it is more important to learn to keep the mind active than really learning the program. She's doing paper craft as hobby, I think learn Python is going to push her mind more and keep her mind in shape.

Hell, I am 67, I don't need to learn C++, it's all about keeping the mind active. Since I retired, I have been designing very high end hifi power amp. It's to the point it's not challenging anymore, every change is just incremental and not stimulate my mind anymore. That's the reason I pick up C++ for the hell of it. I am nudging my 14 years old grand daughter to learn Python and got her the book, my wife kind of mention whether she can learn it. So I said try it and see. That's how it all started.

The Raspberry Pi started as an effort by British educators to get a cheap way to introduce young students to programming. When they started, they sold a very cheap computer together with a very good introductory book that led to simple Python programs and control of hardware devices. I don't know if that is still a primary focus of theirs, but it would be worth checking into.