Future of CodingFuture of Coding

Moving Beyond Syntax: Lessons from 20 Years of Blocks Programming in AgentSheets by Alexander Repenning

View descriptionShare

Future of Coding

A romp through the field of computer programming, grapling with our history and wondering what should come next. A mix of deeply technical talk, philo 
73 clip(s)
Loading playlist

Alexander Repenning created AgentSheets, an environment to help kids develop computational thinking skills. It wrapped an unusual computational model with an even more unusual user interface. The result was divisive. It inspired so many other projects, whilst being rejected at every turn and failing to catch on the way Scratch later did. So in 2017, Repenning published this obit of a paper, Moving Beyond Syntax: Lessons from 20 Years of Blocks Programming in AgentSheets, which covers his findings over the years as AgentSheets evolved and transformed, and gives perspective on block-based programming, programming-by-example, agents / rule / rewrite systems, automata, and more.

This is probably the most "normal" episode we've done in a while — we stay close to the text and un-clam many a thought-tickling pearl. I'm saying that sincerely now to throw you off our scent the next time we get totally lost in the weeds. I hear a clock ticking.

Links

$ Do you want to move beyond syntax? Frustrated by a lack of syntactic, semantic, or pragmatic support? Join our Patreon! Choose the tier that best reflects your personal vision of the future of coding. Get (frequently unhinged) monthly bonus content. Most of all: let us know that you enjoy this thing we do, and help us keep doing it for years to come.

Music featured in this episode:

! Send us email, share your ideas in the Slack, and catch us at these normal places:

See you in the future!

https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/073

In 1 playlist(s)

  1. Future of Coding

    73 clip(s)

Future of Coding

An imaginative, ruminative romp through the land of poisoned sand. What even are computers, where di 
Social links
Recent clips
Browse 73 clip(s)