Within the past month or so I've run across three possible ways we could help get kids get started with computer programming. When I say kids I'm talking about Junior High School or most likely High School age children that have some basic math skills and have already used a computer. Whatever introduction a person has to programming should be as simple as possible and the results of their efforts should be something they can quantify, and I don't mean seeing "Hello World" displayed on the screen.

First, the folks over at Java Posse had a really good podcast about an IDE called Blue J. The IDE is as simple as can be. The user starts a new project and they are presented with screen that will lay out classes in a UML fashion. User can easily get a sense of what classes they have created and, when they run the application, what objects are instantiated and how they may interact.

I like this IDE for teaching purposes and wish that my introduction to Java had been with it. However, even though this blog is named the "Java Entrepreneur" I don't think Java should be the first programming language a person ever uses. It can be overly complex and it would take too much to make it do anything substantial, without wizards, for a first time programmer to get any satisfaction. It could be made to work but there must be something better out there now.

Second, with all the hype around the language Ruby I feel the need to include it here. I've followed a few simple tutorials and have found it very easy to learn. A user is able to build something rather quickly. Again though, I don't believe Ruby should be the first language a person starts to program with. I'm looking for something more visual for a first time programmer. It could be made to work but there must be something better out there now.

Third, a reader emailed me (Satish Talim) about a new language called the Kids Programming Language (KPL) and it looks pretty interesting. The IDE is simple to use and the examples and tutorials provide a new user with some very easy examples. Not only that but the intent is for the programmer to have a much more visual experience.

If the target audience is going to be kids who have not yet started college KPL looks promising. Based on what I've seen I would choose KPL as the language to teach a first time programmer with right now. It is easy to learn and can provide a person with a very visual experience that I don't think Java with Blue J or Ruby would at first. I don't think it is something that a person could use in the real world but as far as getting a person excited about programming it hits the mark. I will write more about KPL tomorrow.